What Happens Next? A Host of unexpected
by great2read
Summary: Wanda continues her life with the humans and Ian. See what happens as life continues in the caves and out. New characters are introduced in later chapters. Multiple POV. New post.
1. Chapter 1 Part 1: Life at Home

**A/N: This is my very first fanfic. I hope you all like it. I don't own anything just the thoughts in my head.**

Ch1

Wanda's POV

A few months had passed since we met Nate and his clan of rebels. We began trading supplies and coordinating raids so that the humans could benefit the most from each trip. Jared and Mel as well as many others from Jeb's cave never really trusted the other clans with the location of the cave hide out and also pressed the issue of them not revealing their location to us. It wasn't that we thought they would purposely turn us in to the seekers, but with the survival of the human race we didn't want to put all the eggs into one basket. In other words, one human caught would expose all of us. So getting around the secrecy of locations made it difficult to plan group raids but it was accomplished. There was a secret location for each group to contact each other with a coded message. If someone was caught only the location of the messages would be revealed as well as what the code was, but it changed frequently.

Burns and I had become close. He was the only one I agreed to go on a raid with from the other clan. I still felt wary of humans even in my own clan. Surprisingly, Kyle no longer was one of those I didn't trust to be alone with, unfortunately Sharon and Magnolia still were. It was odd how they accepted Mel back in their lives although Mel was not as forgiving. She took their assault on me personally. Mel and I were as close as sisters could ever get and anyone that hurt me was hurting her by association.

Sunny was still attached to Kyle and was very fearful of being away from him, but it was time she made herself useful and joined Burns and I on a simple food shopping trip.

"I don't want to go! Kyle, tell them not to make me," Sunny begged.

"No one is telling you that you have to do anything," he responded.

"Kyle, we need a third. The more of us together the more supplies we could get in one place. Less stops will be required and we could get back home sooner," I explained. "Sunny, you don't have to worry. It is just like shopping before you and Kyle got together. And it's not like Kyle will be far off. He is going to be in the van waiting."

"That's true sweetie. I won't let anyone harm you."

"The souls in the store won't suspect a thing because we are not doing anything wrong," I said. Ian turned his face at the obvious lie I said so not to give it away. He knew full well that I felt I was not giving back to the community and hence I felt I was stealing. Kyle caught on and helped convince Sunny of the least bit of danger she would be in. After all, if there was any danger at all, Ian wouldn't let me step foot close to anywhere risky. Kyle trusted his brother's cautiousness.

Jared, Melanie, Kyle, Ian, Sunny, and I all went out to go meet up with Burns, Rachel, and Avery in our always changing meeting place. We were three vans together, three clans, three souls. We were on our way to our first location which took a couple of days to get there. The three of us had our lists and walked into the first food store. The story was that we three were throwing a college party and required supplies to make the party a success.

"Go on Sunny. We need to split up and go up and down the aisles as quickly as possible without arousing suspicion," I told her.

"Please Wanda, I can't go alone. Just let me tag along with you for the first couple of places. I will feel more comfortable and we won't get caught." She shook as she held onto my arm.

"What do you think Burns?" I asked.

"I don't think she is ready to be on her own. We are risking the lives of the people out in those vans if she messes up."

"I guess we will stick together," I assured her. She immediately relaxed and a smile found its way to her worried face. I knew how she felt. We all worried for the humans we loved so dearly.

We walked as quickly as we could, gathering supplies right and left, smiling as we passed other souls, even making some small talk on occasion. I thought we were making good time, but apparently we weren't fast enough for our human company waiting in the car. I spotted Melanie approaching us in the corner of my eye and turned to her worried. She was smiling as she greeted those she passed and was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Any human would have known she was hiding something while wearing those glasses in doors, but we souls were so trusting.

"What is keeping you guy so long?" she asked.

"It's a very long list and I'm doing double time," I explained. She took Sunny's list and began roaming the aisle alone. This made me very wary and I picked up the pace with Sunny at my side.

We finished in no time and as soon as we got to the vans the humans came out to help load the supplies. Kyle was first out of course grabbing Sunny in a true embrace that I didn't know he was capable of. Ian and Jared were tied for second. I caught a peek at Jared's apprehensive face after exiting the van. I could tell coming inside to get us was Melanie's idea and even though Jared was against it he knew she was the only one that would be able to mimic a soul so perfectly and hurry us along. As soon as Ian was with me, he couldn't help covering my face in kisses. He knew I was a pro at this type of raid, but it still bothered him to be away from me.

Even though Ian knew that Burns was a soul that had "gone native" as Burns put it, Ian refused to allow me to be in close proximity of him for long stretches of time. Ian would always hold me close when Burns was around. I recognized the look of the jealousy in Ian's eyes. No matter how many times I insisted that I only loved him, he still worried.

**So how do you guys like it so far? Please Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews **_**Sapphirenight12**_** and **_**IanWandaMelanieJaredJamie**_** .**

**I hope you like this chapter, too.**

Ch2

The next locations were for clothing and cleaning supplies such as soaps and detergents. Then we would shop again for food in that pattern. After the third store, Sunny was confident enough to separate from me for a bit, but she would come to see me often. The raid was working well and we were collecting supplies at a record pace. We were done in two weeks instead of the usual four.

When we started heading home the three vans separated and headed to their respective hideaway locations. As we all unloaded the supplies, I carried the least heavy of course and Ian began again on his little selfless, but jealous rant.

"You and he together make sense. Two souls on the same path, sharing the knowledge of other worlds, having the same compassion for humans, I wouldn't blame you for liking him," Ian said in his soft spoken wording.

"You're right I do like him Ian, but I don't love him. I barely know anything personal about him. Sure we talk a lot about the Fire world, but there is nothing else to me of interest. It is you who I know every detail of. And you know every bit about me."

"I'm sorry that I keep bringing this up. I do see that it annoys you, but I do know you. I know that you would probably sacrifice your happiness, because you feel you need to make me happy. I just need that reassurance. I just like to hear that being with me is what makes you happy."

"You know what would make me very happy?" I calmly stated for its seriousness. "Being able to help to the point where my muscles are sore and I would know that I really contributed in the labor."

"Wanda, you are not as strong as you used to be."

"But I'm not a weak creature either. If I was allowed to do more labor, then I could build up my muscles. Besides, sore muscles are beneficial to my happiness."

"And how is that?"

"Well if I was sore then you could massage me better. I don't need to use the No Pain right away."

"Oh, I get it," Ian comprehended quickly. Sore muscles means staying in bed and staying in bed means fun alone time making each other happy.

The next day I watched as Mel and Jared did the normal routine of turning and preparing the soil on the field. Ian had his shirt off and his muscles glistened with sweat in the lighting. I walked around handing water out to everyone. I knew I _was_ being helpful, it just didn't feel that way. Ian gave me a little kiss on my cheek as he took his water. "Thank you," he whispered. I just frowned.

"What's wrong?" Mel asked.

"Nothing." I didn't want to let her know I was slightly resentful. I knew that they put thought into the choice of which body I should get, but I sometimes felt useless.

"You're a lousy liar, remember?" Ian chimed in.

"Wanda, tell me what's bothering you. I'm still not used to not knowing what you are thinking all the time," Mel lamented.

"Well. I'm sorry if I sound absurd. I'm glad you're around and free, but I kind of miss your body. Not that I don't like the one I'm in. It's great on raids, but when I'm around here I can't do anything. I miss what your body allowed me to do. Of course I'm not asking for a new body, but at least you guys could let me use this body. I'm not made of glass and I won't break. I need to be allowed to push this body, to work it harder so that I could contribute more," I stated.

Ian instantly interrupted. "Wanda, you do contribute. We eat better and have the supplies we need because of you. You don't need to push yourself hard. You could get hurt."

"So what if she does," Jared stated. "We have the medicines to fix any broken bones or bruises. If she wants to help out more, why not let her." Jared was always rational when it came to the good of the community.

"You sure, Wanda?" Ian asked.

"Please."

"Fine." Ian walked over to Jeb and explained the situation. Jeb smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

Weeks passed and Ian was so worried about me so much more now that he was allowing me to do my share of the chores. He always looked like he was about to pull the shovel right out of my hands or give me some other job to do as soon as I would break a sweat, but he kept it to himself. The other people also stopped going easy on me after Jeb and Melanie informed them how I felt. After a while this body began to work better. I tired less easily and was able to lift more weight than I used to. I was very happy, though exhausted by the end of each day. I was never too tired, though, to show Ian how happy I was, which in turn made HIM happy.

**A/N: A little fluffy, I know. Please review and I'll put up the next chapter as soon as I can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I hope this satisfies all your curiosities.**

Ch 3

Soon it was time to do another supply run. It wasn't so necessary for us, but Nate's clan needed some building supplies. Nate and Burns were only going this time, so it was just Ian and I that were going to help. Jamie was now fifteen and asked if it would be okay to come along. Mel and I quickly refused.

"Oh come on!" he begged. "What's the big deal? I'm bigger than you, Wanda. Nothing will happen to me. Ian will be there." Mel gave him a "no way, no how" glare.

"I'm not a baby Mel! You were taking care of me while we were on the run when you were fifteen. And I happen to feel more capable than you were, because we are now experienced at this rebel thing," Jamie declared.

"He does have a point," Ian agreed. "I could use the extra pair of eyes."

Once he had Melanie convinced, I was by myself on the opposing side. At least I would be there to ensure his safety. What could go wrong?

Burns and I entered the Building 'N Company supply store and began our usual role play. We got the stuff that was needed and headed back to the vans. There was a general store opened next door and Burns thought it would be nice to get the others some food for the trip home.

The store was pretty much void of anyone but the owner this late at night. Five minutes after we entered there was some kind of commotion. Three male humans baring large guns forced their way in and were yelling at the owner.

"Fill up these bags with food!" one growled. The owner was frozen in his seat behind the counter. Burns and I both had our hands in the air hoping that they will leave quickly. The humans' faces were swollen and very sweaty. Their eyes were red and one human kept rubbing his.

"They are sick," I whispered to Burns. "Look at their faces."

"We should help them," Burns commented.

"Are you crazy? They won't trust us. The lights from the reflection off the counter are reflecting in our eyes. They clearly know we are souls."

"We need to do something," he persisted.

"No talking!" the second one yelled at us with his rifle pointed at Burns. The third one came closer to us.

"I could help you," Burns declared in a clear voice. "I'll get the food."

I'm sure Burns meant no harm by suggesting that, but Burns's tall stature was a bit intimidating.

"No!" The third one grabbed me. "She'll go!" He sneezed on me and disgusting slobber exited his mouth onto my face.

"There is no need to be so violent. Look at her; she won't hurt you," Burns said.

"Yeah," the first one said staring at me. "Look at her. She is very pretty. Maybe you could take her to the back . . ."

"No!" Burns yelled and lunged for the human holding me. The second human was quicker and struck Burns in the head with the back of his rifle. Burns fell to the floor unconscious. The one holding me licked my cheek and pulled me by my hair to the back of the store.

As we travelled to the back, I was thinking _Where is . . ._ "Ian!" I called out. He stood there with his hands raised by the back door.

"Hey you! What do you think you are doing?" the human called.

"Listen just let her go. You don't need to do any of this," Ian said in a very calm soul-like voice.

"The hell I don't! Go up front!" The human had his gun pointed at Ian. The human beckoned him forward. Ian came closer to pass the human and me and head to the front. "Stupid alien," the human said. Suddenly there was a shot fired up front and Ian turned right into the human as he shoved me aside.

"I'm. Not. An alien," he said coldly in the humans face. The human fell down and there was a bloody knife in Ian's hands. The human was holding his stomach and blood was pouring out of the gaping hole.

Ian looked to me. "He won't be hurting you anymore." I just stared frozen at Ian's blood covered hands. "I'm sorry Wanda. I just couldn't see any other way," he apologized.

"Oh Ian!" I grabbed him for a big hug. My body was shaking, tears rolled down from my eyes, and I could hardly breathe. Ian just killed someone to save me.

"Nobody touches my Wanda," he stated with resolve. "Are you okay? He didn't cause any damage to you?"

"No, but I think I will need a double dose of Clean Inside. He was grossly diseased."

"Come on, let's go help the others," he insisted.

I began to worry. Who was that gunshot for? We slowly progressed to the front, wary that there were two more armed humans there.

To our surprise, Nate and Jamie stood over the two humans pointing their own guns at them. I grabbed Jamie for a hug, but he didn't lose focus on the human he was now aiming the gun at.

"It was so easy," he smiled. "They were so sick with weakness that Germ guy #1 over here fell to the floor as soon as I shoved him, releasing his gun. Nate struggled a little with Germ guy #2 and the gun went off." He looked around. "Where is Germ guy # 3?"

"He's dead," Ian said stoically. "He had it coming. He was going to . . ." Ian broke off and turned to pull me into a hard kiss.

"I'm fine," I whispered. I bent down to check on Burns.

"Burns wake up. You okay?" He wasn't responding. Ian kicked him.

"Hey!" Nate yelled. "He's on our side, remember?"

"A lot of good he did. If Jamie hadn't come up with that brilliant plan, who knows what would have happened to Wanda," Ian yelled back.

"He's a soul. You know he couldn't have been able to hurt anyone," Nate defended.

"He did try to help me. Why do you think they hit him?" I explained.

"So you're defending him now?" Ian pounced.

"Ian," I sighed. "Burns is my friend, just like Jared and Kyle are."

"You had to say Jared! If he didn't have Melanie . . ."

"Guys!" Jamie interrupted. "Could you please continue your lover's quarrel back at home? Thank you."

"What are we going to do with these two?" Nate challenged.

"I called for more Seekers," the store owner said. We all looked at each other surprised. I actually forgot that the owner was witness to all that had occurred.

"Now what?" Ian asked.

"We need to get out of here, now," Nate stated. "Listen sir; don't tell the other seekers about us. Our group is looked down upon for using excessive force," he lied.

"I won't tell them about you guys," the owner promised. "You saved our lives. As far as I'm concerned, you did me a great service." We looked at each other again.

"Right," Nate affirmed. "I guess it's for the best," he whispered to Ian. "I wouldn't want them in my clan and I know you won't want them in yours."

"But they could identify us," Jamie worried.

"We are special Seekers," Ian declared to the two humans. "Don't mess with us."

Nate and Ian grabbed hold of Burns and took him to Nate's van.

I approached the owner. "Do you by any chance have Sleep on you?"

"Yes, of course." He turned behind him and gave me two white containers. "And here is some Awake for your friend."

"Thanks." I sprayed the mist at the two humans while Jamie still pointed the gun at them. "Don't worry," I said to them with my reflective eyes in their faces. "They will take care of you."

**A/N: Well do you guys like the story plot? Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks to all you guys for reviewing. Here goes another chapter. I hope you like it.**

Ch 4

It was breakfast time when we got back to the cave and the first thing I did was run to Doc. Ian ran with me.

"Doc, I need some Clean Inside, Outside, and Upside-down if you have any," I requested.

Ian began hysterically laughing. "She got too close to a walking epidemic. But don't worry, the situation has been neutralized," Ian explained. Doc looked confused.

"A disgusting human sneezed on me in a store. And I use the word disgusting because of his behavior not because he was sick." I was beginning to accept what might have happened if Ian had not showed up. The anger flared and the unfamiliar emotion of gladness of someone's death enveloped me. I suddenly felt ashamed of myself. I was still soul enough to not be the inflictor of pain. I knew there are some humans, specifically my family and friends, which are worth saving from the invading souls. But I still believed the majority of humans needed rehabilitation before they end up destroying themselves.

Ian was going through the details of what happened with Doc.

"Wanda, if you don't have any open wounds then Clean Inside should be enough and a bath should be good for the rest," Doc suggested.

"A bath. That would be good. I will even join you if you want," Ian commented seductively.

I instantly blushed. "In front of Doc you say that?"

"What? I like your blush."

Doc took out the Clean Inside and shot a mist for me to inhale. Then he misted Ian too. "Are the others also coming to get sprayed?" Doc asked.

"I don't know. I guess," I responded.

"Well if you see them be sure to send them here. We don't need people getting unnecessarily sick."

As Ian and I walked to our room to get a change of clothes for the bath, I thought about how there is a human dead because of me and Ian did it. I looked over at him in the dim lighting of the walkway and he smiled then took my hand. He looked like nothing had happened, no sadness or remorse for taking a life.

"Ian."

"Yes."

"How can you just be like that?" I asked.

"Be like what?" he questioned.

"Act like nothing happened. I'm still shaking at the thought. You killed someone. Doesn't that bother you? Don't you care?"

Ian stopped mid-stride. "Of course I care. But Wanda he was going to . . ." He sighed then shook his head. "I know what I did was a horrible thing, but I'd rather see him dead than you. You're my Wanda. You're good. Bad things shouldn't happen to you."

"I don't know if I'm _all_ good," I stated remembering my earlier thoughts of anger.

"No Wanda. You _are_ all good. No one's life is worth more to me than yours," he told me with conviction. Ian then pulled me close to him and his mouth found mine easily. One of his opened palms went through my hair holding my head to his. His other palm went to the small of my back under my shirt. My arms went around him instinctively. "Let's hurry up so we could get into that bath," he whispered.

At lunch the news had spread to everyone about what happened. Jamie was getting pats on the back and he looked like he had grown three inches that day. Our usual group sat together as always, when I noticed a flair of red coming closer in the corner of my eye. I turned toward the movement and saw that Sharon was coming to me. I looked over to where she sat and saw Doc having a slight grin.

"I heard about what happened," Sharon said in a low solemn voice. "I'm very sorry that happened." She looked toward the floor. "No one deserves that. I may not like your species, but you do help us a lot. I'm glad you're okay." She turned and walked out of the kitchen.

"Wow," I said to Jamie and Mel. "You're cousin is finally came to her senses."

"I told you; it's your host's body. It's hard to not like it," he smiled.

"Please," Mel stated sarcastically. "It's a female thing."

There was an awkward silence at our table for a minute. I didn't like the negativity it brought.

"So," I broke the silence. "I would like to know what Jamie's brilliant plan was."

A smirk cracked through Jamie's face. "Well, when we saw the three guys go in, Nate snuck over to take a peek to see what was going on. He told us that the three had guns pointed at Burns and Wanda. Ian was all gung ho about storming in there, but I told him if we scare them then someone might get shot. My plan was that Nate and I walk in like souls going shopping so that they wouldn't be frightened by us. Ian should sneak in the back and make like he was there the whole time. Once the men put their guard down, we would be able to overtake them. We were lucky that they were so sick and didn't pick up that we were humans, too."

Mel was gaping. "You were supposed to watch over him. He shouldn't have left the van at all," she said sternly.

"It was a great plan. Not unlike something Jared would come up with," Ian defended. "At least he didn't trip this time."

"No one will ever let me live that down," Jamie pondered.

"Don't worry," Jared said proudly. "No one sees you as just a child anymore. You have joined the rank of Hero."

Jamie's face lit up like the sun.

**A/N: So how was that? Please leave me your comments.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: OMG you guys really like my story. I don't own The Host even though it is really awesome. Here goes another chapter. I hope you like it.**

Ch. 5

That night I had been dreaming about how Burns got hit in the head and that barbaric humanpulling my hair. In my dream Ian had not been there. The idea of being alone with that human shocked me awake. I woke up feeling nauseated and extremely tired. Thankful that Ian doesn't hold me when he is in a deep sleep, I literally rolled off the mattress and realized quickly that that was a big mistake. My partially digested dinner came up violently in a puddle on the cave floor. The action made my eyes water and the scent made me want to bring up some more vomit. I held my breath and tugged on Ian's arm.

"Ian, wake up. I need help," I begged. Ian immediately roused awake.

"Huh. What happened?"

"I think I caught that sick human's disease after all," I guessed. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you get Doc for me please?"

"Sure," he said as he helped me back to a comfortable position. He left the room and I started to remember how it felt when the human's tongue climbed up my face from chin to temple. Another round of nausea fought through and won. I leaned over the mattress and became ill once again. At least I kept it in one place.

Soon Doc and Ian walked in and grabbed their noses simultaneously. "So, Ian said you're sick," Doc said in a nasal voice. I sat up.

"I don't think the Clean Inside worked," I hypothesized.

"How could that be? You said souls made cures. Possible you didn't take a good breath. I'll get some more." He left the room quickly.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Ian.

"I'm feeling fine," he answered with his nose pinched. I almost laughed to hear how that changed his voice. "Are you thirsty? I need to get some water anyway to wash the floor."

"Please. Thanks." Ian walked calmly out of the cave.

My thoughts circled around my nightmare and what really occurred, the human grinning at Burns on the ground, the other human pulling me by my hair to the back. Suddenly, Ian was there shoving a knife into the human's stomach. So much violence. It's no wonder I'm so sick.

Doc made it back first. He was panting as if he ran the whole way. He gave me the white container and I shot a mist in front of my face. I took two deep breaths and lied down.

"Doc, I had a nightmare about the humans and I keep remembering the way that human behaved, and Ian. I think that might be what's making me sick. Ian was just as close to him and he is fine."

"You're thinking post traumatic stress?" Doc asked.

"What?" Those words were unfamiliar to my host.

"Post traumatic stress. It's when something too awful happens that you could get nightmares from it?" he explained. "Yes that does sound likely."

Ian walked in with a bucket of water and a sponge. He also had a bottle of water and a box of crackers held under his arm.

"I thought since you lost your dinner, you might be hungry." He put the bucket down and handed me the water and crackers.

"Thanks," I said. Ian was so sweet.

"Ian, I think Wanda should sleep in the hospital wing. I need to observe her for post traumatic stress," Doc insisted.

"If you think it best."

The two of them helped me up and together we walked through the south tunnels to the hospital wing. After Doc turned on the solar lamps, I laid down on one of the cots. Ian came over, kissed me on my forehead, and told me as soon as he cleaned the floor he'll be back to join me.

"Doc," I said weakly after sipping my water bottle. While I'm here, there was something I was meaning to ask you."

"What Wanda?"

"My body hasn't been working right lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my cycles," I began to blush. "It hasn't arrived."

Doc's face lit up with understanding. "How late are you?"

"A couple weeks."

Doc's mouth contorted to a tight line, then his eyes softened. "You're not sick, Wanda. You're pregnant."

My body shot up like a catapult. "What? How could that be?"

Doc's face now began to turn red. "Well, you and Ian do stuff . . . in bed. This results . . ."

"No!" I shouted the interruption. "Sorry." I felt bad about raising my voice, but I didn't need an embarrassing biology lesson. "I mean, I take those pills that Melanie takes. You know to stop that from happening."

"You mean birth control pills? Nothing is 100% Wanda."

"Are you kidding me? You humans couldn't even get that one right?" I was beginning to get emotional.

"Why didn't you just use the soul version of that medicine?" he asked as if this was my mistake.

"There is no such thing. We encourage breeding. That's how we get new host bodies," I corrected him. "Ian's going to be mad."

"Why? It is Ian's, right?" he asked dubiously.

"Of course it's Ian's. What a silly question. It's just I know how some members feel about bringing up a child in this world." I was referring to Mel's memory with Jared in the cabin. What she wanted to do and why he refused her. "Please don't tell anyone yet. I need to figure out what to say."

Ian came back about half an hour later. "It was really a lot of vomit. I had to really wash the floor down and mop it up." Ian noticed the worry in my eyes. "What's wrong?" he said concerned.

Doc knew I couldn't lie so he spoke instead of me. "Her illness is stress related."

I thought that Doc put it nicely, after all what so more stressful than a baby coming.

"It will be okay," he commented hugging me. "I won't let anything happen to you." He pulled another cot over to me and climbed in. "I'll be sleeping right beside you the whole time."

Doc turned the lamps off and we all went to sleep.

**A/N: Did I do the story justice? Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: How do you like the way the story went so far? Here goes another chapter.**

Ch 6

The lights coming through the ceiling woke me this time. I tried to roll off the cot, but my hand was caught. I looked over at my numb hand and it was in Ian's, our fingers laced together. I tried to move it and suddenly thousands of pin pricks shocked through my hand. "Ow," I spoke in a whisper. I tried again, ignoring the stinging and was finally successful.

I got up slowly, so not to set off any morning sickness. I needed to give the appearance that I was well so that Ian wouldn't worry. I kissed his forehead and headed off to the kitchen. I definitely needed food. I got to the kitchen and took a whiff of what was being served. It smelled delicious. And I went to sit beside Melanie.

"You okay? Sharon said Ian woke Doc because you were sick," she mentioned.

"I'm fine, all better." I smiled mildly hoping she would believe my words. She looked at me peculiarly and tightened her eyes.

"You hungry?" she asked, I guess not willing to press the issue since I look fine. "I could get you a plate."

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, I could get a plate myself." I got up and went to get some pancakes. My stomach was completely empty from last night that I ate them like there was no tomorrow. I shoveled them in and made it about half way when the nausea hit me.

"Excuse me," I said and quickly got up and ran. My hand went straight to my mouth.

Miraculously, I made it to the rivers, the speeding waters washing away all evidence of my upchucking. The steam misted my face and I felt slightly better.

"Are you okay?" a voice called out. I spun around to see Jamie standing behind me.

"It's out of my system," I stated truthfully. Well partly true. It was right now.

He looked wary. "Well okay, but maybe you should go see Doc?"

I didn't want Jamie to worry so I agreed. If I just made it look like I was getting treated, he might not say anything.

Later that day, I was in the kitchen mixing and kneading the dough for bread. Melanie was there too. It seemed like she was around me a lot today. I managed to last the whole day without feeling sick, but the nausea was hitting me now. It was the way the flour looked all wet and chucky, like it was food that had already been chewed. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I ran, not even wiping my hands from the sticky dough.

I sat there in the steam room allowing the mist in the air to wash away my feeling of disgust, when Mel walked in.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I whispered, hoping she won't hear the lie.

"Why are you hiding that you're sick? It's not like you're pregnant," she said with a sarcastic edge. I kept silent.

Her facial expression dropped. "Wanda?"

I decided to speak. "Apparently, I can." My voice was low.

"What?" she whispered and came closer. "You do take those pills I gave you, right?"

"Doc told me nothing is 100%."

"Does Ian know?" she asked gently.

"I just found out in the middle of the night, so no. I don't know what to do or even how to feel. In the soul world this would be good news. A new host body, but down here, in the caves . . . This isn't a place for a baby. I don't even know the first thing about caring for one. This body, this host, has no experience with it." I could feel the anxiety that my body was producing and I was beginning to panic.

"Calm down Wanda," she said soothingly. "First thing, you need to tell Ian. He has to know."

"What if he will be mad and tell me I did something wrong?"

"I can't imagine Ian ever being angry with you. Don't worry, you are not alone. You have the whole community here to help you," she reminded me.

"Sure, because Ian and I aren't an odd enough couple, let's add a baby to the mix."

"Wanda, do you remember that evening at the hotel when we saw the soul couple with the human child?"

"Yes."

"What did you tell Jared and Ian you were looking at?" she questioned.

"Hope for survival for a host species," I recollected.

"Ian and Jared saw that. Now you could show the whole community. You and Ian are a good couple not an odd one," she explained.

"You really think so?" I asked for affirmation.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Wanda?"

"Hmm?" I was deep in thought.

"Could I be happy now?" She looked like I was giving her a present that she was about to open. I smiled. She was happy.

"I get to be an aunt. I thought I would have to wait until Jamie," she reported. "Let me know when I could tell people."

After my conversation with Mel, I just walked around the caves trying to figure things out. Among my species, I am a female with the potential to be a mother. But a choice like that could kill me. The human way wouldn't. I could bear young in this form _and_ be around to see it become an adult.

My walk ended at my room. I noticed a bucket by the bed and wondered how it got there. I'm sure Ian wouldn't have left it there from last night. There wouldn't be a reason that would make him believe I still needed it. It could have been Mel or Doc. Ian walked in shortly afterwards.

"Were you feeling better today? I didn't get to see you. I'd hate to think you were avoiding me, because you think I'll catch it," he said. I smiled widely. "Because to tell the truth," he put his arms around me and kissed my neck. "I would rather be sick than be away from you."

His face found mine easily. We moved over to the mattresses and he proceeded to pull off his shirt. My heart started pounding faster and my breaths came in gasps between the long kisses we shared. My thought processes clouded and all I could think of was how my body melted warm from the lava.

His tongue barely touched mine, when the nausea hit again. I shoved him out of the way and aimed for the bucket, thankful to whoever was nice enough to leave it there.

"You're still sick?" Ian claimed with concern. "I'll go get you some water."

"Wait Ian." I needed to tell him before he figures it out. "I need you to know something, but you can't get upset."

"Upset?" he mused wary. "Why would I be upset?"

"You'll see." I paused taking a breath and swallowed, tasting the residue still in my mouth. _Ew._

"Ian I didn't know and I'm really sorry. I could understand if you wouldn't want me anymore." I started apologizing.

"Hold on," he interrupted. "What did you do?" He was trying to stay calm, but I could hear the edge in his voice.

"Ian . . . I'm pregnant," I whispered. His brows rose to the top of his head. He was completely surprised. Whatever it was he thought I had done, pregnancy was last on his mind.

**A/N: So I know I'm going to hear it from lots of you. Is there something wrong with my character portrayal? Leave a review comment.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I happy about your reviews. Keep them coming. Enjoy this chapter.**

Ch 7

"Ian, are you okay?" I pondered gently. "I know I should have been more careful with the birth control pills, though I took them every day. It's just a faulty human product." I waited for him to breathe. I don't think he took a breath since I said the word "pregnant."

I continued. "It's true that the caves may not be the place to raise a baby. I'm sure there are things that are needed that are not available down here. But this is my chance to be a mother and live through it. I couldn't do that as a soul. I'm sure this world of hiding was not what you wanted for your child."

"My child," he whispered, interrupting my rant.

"Yeah Ian, of course."

He lifted his hand to my face and allowed his fingertips to run along my cheek.

"Our child," he restated then put his arms around me and pulled me into a long kiss.

"You're not upset?" I breathed into him. "You're not worried that it's not a good place down here?"

He looked into my grey eyes. "Wanda, before you came I would agreed with you on the status of raising a baby in the caves. But Wanda you could just walk into a store and get whatever the baby needs." He sighed. "I can't believe it. You changed everything when you entered my life and here you go doing it again."

"So you're happy, because I have no idea how to care for a human baby. It being your species, I'm depending on you," I informed him.

He smiled and kissed me again. He quickly pulled away. "I'm going to get you that water. You take care of that smelly bucket."

The next morning, Ian told Jared and Kyle about the pregnancy. Jared told Mel, who already knew, and Jamie. Mel understood why I was keeping silent. By the afternoon the whole community knew. They say "good news travels fast," but bad news goes like lightning. I'm still not sure which one this was. No one let me lift a finger and Ian kept asking me if I was tired and wanted to be carried anywhere. I thought it was bad when Doc put me in this petite body, but now it was worse.

From all the people, I think Jamie was the happiest. Yeah Ian was going to be the father, but Jamie gets to be the kid uncle. He claimed that was always the best family member. They get to enjoy the pleasure of the new child's company, but are not expected to take any responsibility. Melanie reminded him that he didn't want to be treated like a kid anymore, and he soured.

Ian and I went to visit Doc at the hospital wing when I was about two months along. We had to determine how to medically approach the situation.

"We have to think about doing blood tests and ultrasounds, so we could keep track of the health of the baby," Doc explained. "I'm going to need equipment that I don't have and if I did, have no place to plug it in."

"Couldn't we just sneak into a hospital and use their equipment?" Ian suggested.

"No," the Doc stated. "It's too risky. We could get caught. With so many souls around, someone would tip off the seekers."

"I know that this may not please anyone, but couldn't I just have the healers check me? They could monitor me and the baby. There wouldn't be any reason for a cause of alarm," I explained.

"Well, that's a possibility," Ian agreed. "Although then Doc wouldn't be part of the delivery. A healer would deliver the baby."

"That's another thing, Ian. I can't just deliver without a partner. It would raise too many questions. I would need Burns . . ."

"No!" Ian shouted. "That's my kid in there. If someone needs to be with you, it's got to be me."

"Ian," I explained calmly. "They are going to identify you as a human. I couldn't risk you like that."

"Let me worry about that."

"No, Ian I can't lose you to them. They would discard you, remember? No more adult hosts."

"Whatever the plan is," Doc brought us back to the importance of the conversation, "Wanda is going to need to start prenatal visits."

We came to the conclusion that I will just be checked out by healers. Burns took me to my first appointment, to Ian's dismay. As much as it bothered him that I was with Burns, he still rather I not be alone. The story was that Burns' and my host's were siblings. Our bodies' skin tone would attest to that. We would claim that my partner's calling required him to travel and we deemed it unsafe for the baby if I went with him.

"Hello. My name is Healer Acid on the tongue and it would be my pleasure to check you."

She felt the shape and rigidness of my belly. She asked me to excuse myself to the ladies room to leave a sample of urine and some saliva by spitting five times in a vile. They also gave me a special comb to run through my hair so that they could have a sample of my hair. That was for DNA testing of genetic problems that could arise in the baby. I couldn't imagine why so much was required. All host bodies were checked to be in perfect health before insertion.

I noticed a pair of glasses on the table.

"Are those yours?" I asked the healer.

"Yes, but I don't need them anymore. The spiders never came up with a way to care poor eyesight, because it was part of the host's appearance. We had to wear them. But now, since humans are all but gone, we healers found a way to fix eyesight." She opened the cabinet and took out a white narrow cylinder that was labeled _Vision_. She opened it and displayed something my host recognized as a lens.

"These lenses are made of a special material we use on our ships. A soul simply needs to place one of these lenses on our eye and it will create perfect vision. The material forms to the shape the eye needs so, no matter how bad the vision was, this will fix it."

"I think the humans already had those. They were called _contact lenses_," Burns said.

"Well yes. That's where we got the idea from. Only these needn't be removed. The host's eyes could have them on indefinitely with no irritation." Healer Acid moved the closer to me and I noticed a light flicker from them.

"Healer Acid, may I take a better look at those," I asked innocently. She passed them over. I moved them around watching them as the over head lights shined back at me.

"Burns look," I hinted, as I shifted the back and forth. His gasp indicated he caught on as well. If we got enough of these, then every human on a raid would blend in easily with souls.

"Healer Acid may I keep these for my partner. He wears glasses and would be happy to be rid of them," I lied.

"No problem. I know how he feels."

The healer took me to do the ultrasound and gave me a picture of the baby to give to my partner when he came home.

As soon as I got back to the caves and after a cheerful embrace with Ian, I showed the Vision to Doc as well as my prenatal records that Burns seized.

"This substance is amazing. If we could get enough of these, we could walk freely amongst souls undetected."

"Doc it wouldn't be fool-proof if humans still behaved like humans. Only those of us that have experience acting like souls could get away with it," Ian said. "Like me," he smiled, "so I could go on your next appointment."

**A/N: Well how do you like the turn of events? R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing. Here's another chapter.**

Ch 8

Once Melanie found out about the lenses, she made a plan to go get some more. She was determined to go shopping with me for all the baby things that would be needed.

There were lots of volunteers that wanted to go on this raid so that they could secure themselves a pair, but Jared explained that he wouldn't have a problem getting enough for everyone. These lenses meant that anyone of the community could leave the caves for a brief amount of time and not worry about getting caught. I could understand that. In the caves there was safety, but a person could get tired of the same old walls to look at. It was the same idea as the rec room, a break from the same old everyday things.

Jared explained that once everyone has a pair, it doesn't give them free rein to move in and out of the caves. "We are still in hiding," he reminded them. Seekers could still be suspicious of us _and_ most important, no one was allowed to wear them inside the caves. This way we could tell everyone was still human.

Kyle, Ian, Jeb, Jared, and Melanie accompanied me to one of the healing facilities that bordered Utah. We went that far, because we didn't want the discovery of theft to make the seekers search for us in Arizona. Mel wore the pair of Vision since she was the one with the most experience among souls. She searched the back of the targeted truck covertly, while I struck up a conversation to distract the driver.

"So Darkness Breaks how long have you had this calling of a delivery service?" I asked.

"My host owned this trucking company, but didn't do much of the driving. I had this appeal of wandering the land of my new home planet. It developed because my first planet was with the flowers. I couldn't do much traveling there being attached to the ground and all. When my host's body expired, I was sent to the singing world. As a bat, I could travel far during flight. I took full advantage of my ability of mobility," he explained.

"But I'm confused. You can't see anything there," my curiosity ignited.

"Yes, but I didn't let that stop me," he laughed.

Mel came to me when the products were removed. "Sorrow Songs," she called me. "We do have to get going. We are stopping this nice soul from his calling."

"Oh yes. I'm sorry. Good-bye Darkness. It was nice speaking with you."

"You too. Good-bye Sorrow." He drove off as we headed to the van.

"I hit the jackpot!" Melanie exclaimed. All the humans in the van were wearing Vision in their eyes.

"I never knew that I couldn't see so good," Jeb resolved. "All that time in da caves is really hard on da eyes. This is amazing."

We started heading back. The humans in the van were very excited. Ian and Kyle wanted to test out the reflective capabilities so they kept flashing lights at each other at different angles, laughing as they were making each other blind. The lenses reflected each time without fail. Mel was getting irritated and told them to grow up.

Jeb was still in awe about how much his vision had improved and wanted to go into a pizzeria and get a pizza with extra garlic. "I just wanna see if I could fool 'em souls," he claimed. "It's not often I git ta go out. I wanna make da most of it."

Jared pulled off the highway to a rest stop with a shopping area by a gas station. As we all walked in separately, we tried to be as un-provoking as possible. We were in groups of three. Ian, Kyle and I sat together and Jared, Mel, and Jeb sat at another table. Our pizzas were brought to us. Mel and I both thanked the soul by the counter. They began to eat, but I nibbled at my crust. I hadn't thrown up I a while, but why tempt it. We heard noise and saw a slight commotion outside of the pizzeria. There were a few seekers walking through each store and food area. They looked like they were searching for someone. We glanced at each other worried we had been caught, but the seekers walked right by us not giving an upward glance at our group. Whoever they were looking for it wasn't us.

Jeb verbalized that there must be a human around trying to escape them. Jared and Ian agreed that we should let it be and not bring attention to ourselves, but Kyle was all hyped up. "They will never suspect us with these on."

"We don't know how many there are," Ian said. "Besides, the humans are probably all scared and won't listen to us, even if we weren't wearing the Visions." He sighed. "They could have guns. Fear makes humans shoot first and ask questions later." He took a glance at me and then took my hand. "I have a lot more at stake."

We headed out to our van when I noticed a girl hiding between two cars. "Hey look," I pointed. "Between those cars, I think there is someone there." Ian instinctively pulled me behind him. "No. I think it is okay."

I walked over to the girl holding out my bag of pizza. "Hey you," I said quietly. "You hungry? I have an extra slice. I won't hurt you."

The girl came out looking around. Ian and the others were obscured by the darkness, but they were still there. I guess she felt safe with me. Jared was right; this body does make it hard to distrust me. She took the bag and began devouring the pizza. The girl was dirty and her clothes were torn. She must have been almost fifteen, but the clothes appeared to belong to someone younger.

Melanie and the others suddenly ran forward and Jared grabbed the human. He held a knife to her neck. Ian held me back. "Don't make a sound," Jared said to her.

"What is Jared doing?" I asked Ian.

"The seekers are coming."

Jared pulled the girl with him to the van. We all followed suit. The girl started to scream. "No!"

"Shh! We are trying to save you," he told her. Mel was in the driver's seat and we drove off.

"You're kidnapping me," the girl claimed.

"Jared, maybe you should put the knife away," I suggested. "We aren't kidnapping you. We thought you were in trouble. We will drop you off where ever you want."

"Who are you guys? You can't be seekers, not the way you pulled a knife on me."

Kyle flashed light in her face before he answered. "We're humans like you."

"We thought the seekers were coming after you," Ian mused. "Were you alone or were you traveling with others?"

"No. Everyone was already caught. I'm the last in my group. We were living in the area and we would break into the food court every night. We were really good at getting in and out, but one of us was caught and the rest of us didn't know. She led us one by one to the seekers. I caught on and ran. I have nothing left."

Ian put his arm around me. This girl might attack me if she knew who I was.

"If you were worried about getting caught, why did you come out to me?" I asked.

"I haven't eaten in a while and I figured I'll take the risk. I think I could take you if it came to that. Then again I didn't know that there were more of you. Or that you were human."

Unexpectedly, an oncoming car's headlights flowed into the van and all our eyes flashed in unison.

"What the Hell?" the girl screamed. She jumped up grabbed at Mel, causing her to swerve onto oncoming traffic. The van swerved back as Kyle and Jared grabbed the human and restrained her. Mel pulled off the road and stopped the van.

"Are you crazy!" she yelled. "You almost killed us all!"

Other cars stopped to see if they could help us.

"You are seekers!" the girl announced. "You won't take me alive."

"Keep her quiet. Wanda, come on. We need to deal with this." She took her drink and spilled it on her lap. She and I exited the car.

"Are you all okay?" one the drivers asked.

"Yeah," I said calmly. "Thanks for your concern."

"I was a bit careless and spilled hot coffee on myself," Mel explained. "Nearly burned my skin off."

I caught on. "It will be okay. I have some Clean, Heal, and Seal in the van. No Smooth though, so you might have a scar, Brown Leaves," I joked.

The other drivers drove away.

"As long as you all are all right," the last one asked.

"Sure we're fine," Mel assure him. He drove off.

We went back into the van. "Is everything cool now?" Mel asked.

"Jeb explained it," Ian told us. "She promised not to attack, again."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Emily."

"Well, I'm Wanda. The driver is Melanie." The rest all called out there names.

"You all live together?" Emily asked.

"Yes, in my cave. If it is okay wit you, you could stay wit us," Jeb offered. "But it is hard work. No slackers in our community. We all pitch in. You'll see."

**A/N: How did you like that chapter? Please R&R.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry I didn't get a chance to update in a while. Here goes another chapter.**

Ch. 9

As we got closer to the caves, we all fell asleep and Kyle relieved Melanie when she got tired. At some point, I awoke and heard Kyle and Ian discussing keeping Sunny and me a secret.

"We have to keep her away from them. If she ever found out…" Ian trailed off.

"But how do we do that?"

"I don't know. I guess we make sure the others keep their mouths shut, but we definitely need to keep the two of them on different chore schedules than her."

It sounded like they were avoiding saying names. I didn't blame them. Saying my name would definitely wake me up.

"What about the other secrets? Like the other cells or the location of the cave?" I wondered. "She's asleep now, but do we have to wake her when we enter?"

"Why not?"

"If she does attack one of them and you or I haven't killed her yet," he said stated with malice. "She's going to be kicked out." I flinched at the idea. Humans killing humans, even if it is to protect someone you love, how could Sunny or I allow our partner to do that?

"If she is ejected from our community, she could get caught and lead the Seekers to us. Even if she isn't, I wouldn't want her finding her way back."

"We'll just have to blindfold her," Ian suggested.

"And how would we explain that?" Kyle's tone was still hard.

"We'll make something up," Ian expressed. It got quiet after that and I drifted back to sleep.

When I awoke again we were by the caves. Jared and Jeb were unloading the medicinal supplies that Melanie had secured as well as the Visions. Emily was still asleep. Ian and Kyle stayed the van waiting for her to arise and instituted their plan to blindfold her. With the quick movements of Jeb and Jared the unloading was done before and she woke up. Jeb stayed in the cave to tell everyone about Emily and warn them to keep quiet about Sunny and me.

Melanie looked at me for guidance about how to wake her up without startling her. She probably hadn't had a goodnight's sleep in a while.

"Emily," I whispered gently in her ear. "We've made it to our hideaway cave."

She suddenly jumped up and leaned against the wall of the van. I guess my voice was still unfamiliar to her. She pulled out a knife she had hidden behind her back. Kyle and Ian both grabbed at her arms. Melanie pulled me away.

"Let me go!" She screamed. "You won't get me without a fight!"

"Spirited, isn't she?" Kyle claimed. "Are we sure about this?"

"She's just jumpy," Mel defended. "I would have done the same thing. In fact every one of us had acted this way were we learned to trust each other."

"It's okay Emily. You are safe. Remember? We got away from the Seekers," I reminded her. She looked at us all and I could tell she was reacting to something she may have been dreaming of.

"No Seekers?"

"No," I said with a smile. Ian and Kyle released her.

"I know that you are frightened, but we are going to have to blindfold you when we go into the cave," Ian tried to explain gently. I looked at him and he focused on her.

"Why?" she asked me.

I had no idea what to say. I knew the truth and anything I said would be identified easily as a lie.

"It's a rule," Ian said stepping in. "All newbies require blindfolds until they can prove themselves. If you don't agree, we will have to take you to a town and drop you off."

"Another thing," Kyle added. "It's usually dark and flashlights are not used often. If you are going to be pulling knives out on people because you are scared, there is going to be a problem."

"I'm not afraid," Emily stated indicating her bravery. "You blindfold me. I don't think I will have a problem proving myself quickly." She stuck her knife back behind her back. Ian pulled out a rag that he found in the van and tied over her eyes. We all helped guide her into the caves while Jared went to hide the van.

Once inside the caves, the Vision was handed out. Everyone was at first jumping and grabbing and acting like … well humans. Jeb reminded everyone of the rules of his house, no one is to wear them unless outside.

Others in the community seemed to accept Emily and helped her navigate the caves whenever she needed it. She was very curious as to how we knew so much about the alien medicines and Doc took full responsibility.

"I was hiding amongst the clinics and watched how the Healers used them," Doc lied.

Over the months, Sunny and I were on a different chore schedule than Emily. We stuck together like glue hoping that Emily would stay oblivious to our non-removable reflective eyes. Ian and Kyle never left our sides while Jamie took it upon himself to stick to Emily. This way he could be sure that she never found out.

Since the introduction of the lenses, I went on less of the raids. Ian thought that I should take it easy in my condition. Doc would perform regular prenatal exams on me as my belly grew. It was awkward having so many people touch my belly whenever I walked by. It reminded me of how people acted when I first got this host. I was feeling inconvenienced when I would be in the kitchen (that was the only job I was allowed to do) and as people took their food or listened to my "fairytale stories" (as Emily was told) they would place their hand on me. I asked Mel about that, since this host had never had contact with pregnant humans. She told me I should speak up, but I always just stayed quiet and smiled. I'm sure the novelty of it will eventually wear off. I hope it will be soon because with my bulging belly I feel like a target for darting hands.

"So how are you feeling today?" Sunny wondered.

"I feel huge. I can't even bend down anymore," I admitted. Sunny laughed and I did the same.

"I know it probably bothers you when someone touches your belly. I've seen your expression, but it really is amazing how these humans reproduce. The idea that there is another one inside of you. It is like your host now has two beings surviving off of it. You and the little one," Sunny noticed.

"You know Sunny that is a remarkable idea. I now know what it is like to be host to something else. This baby has taken full control of me," I laughed with a bit of edge. "I have to eat because it makes me hungry. I need to use the latrine all the time. I'm tired out, but I could never get comfortable. I lost control of me."

"Wow, I've never heard you complain before."

"Well, I wasn't trying to. I was just stating that I know how Melanie felt," I explained.

"Felt about what?" Ian interrupted when he walked over. He and Kyle finally became comfortable enough to leave Sunny and me alone. It had been six months since Emily came. Jamie and she haven't been seen apart since. I couple of times they were caught "rolling in the hay" as Ian stated it. _I wonder what that means._

"How she felt when I took control of her body," I indicated. "Because _your_ baby has taken over mine."

Ian smiled. I think he enjoyed that statement a little too much. "It's refreshing to hear you state your mind." He leaned over and kissed me. Again the lava flowed through me and I remembered just the way I got into this baby mess in the first place. My cheeks reddened with the thought.

"When is your next appointment with the Healers? I still haven't seen the baby on a sonogram," he asked.

"Doc suggested I go as soon as I could. I should be due soon and he wants me to get confirmation on how far along I actually am."

**A/N: Well I hope you like this chapter. I know there isn't really that much action in it. Sorry. R&R.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter better.**

Ch. 10

Soon enough we were allowed to get a group together so that I could see the Healers. Mel also wanted to go with me to get some things for the baby. She thought it was about time we prepared. It was a fairly female group since they are the ones on this planet that usually care for the young. The exceptions were Ian and Jared. While we all stuff ourselves into the van, we discussed things the baby needed.

"The baby will need a place to sleep like a crib," Mel suggested.

"And a soft place to be able to play like a playpen," Lily added.

"Toys. The baby will definitely need toys," Sunny added.

I gave an exacerbated expression to Ian. Where are we supposed to put everything?

"I have a great idea," Ian said, "let's stop worrying Wanda."

"Well the first things are food, clothes, and diapers," Trudy explained. "Everything else could be gotten as the child grows."

We headed to a different healing clinic than I went to with Burns. I didn't feel like explaining to Healer Acid where I had been. This clinic was fairly large. The others wanted to try and blend as much as possible with the soul hosts. Mel was very interested in speaking with some souls to see how they regarded the idea of having a human child. Several were accepting of placing a soul in the baby as soon as that was a possibility, but there was a few that were thinking of trying to raise a human. They found it as a challenge to teach the young one to act appropriately. I assumed those couples had hosts with fond memories of children. I remember how difficult it was to fight against memories and the emotions that come along with them.

It was my turn and Ian and I went into an examination room. Ian became excited. The Healer, Healer Blind to Sight, touched my belly, measuring it and locating where exactly was the baby's head. The baby began kicking and Ian started boasting on how good his kid will be at soccer.

"Really Eyes Forward," that was Ian's false name, "that is what you want your child's calling to be?" I asked in a very soul-appropriate tone.

"We need all the players we could get," he whispered in my ear.

"I'm sure he or she will be just like you," I commented. "And nothing like me," I added under my breath.

The Healer squeezed some jelly on my exposed belly and put the sensor on top of it. The picture of the baby instantly appeared and Ian just stared.

"Wow, look at that," he said in awe. We listened to the steady beat of its heart.

"By the size and development of the baby, I'm positive you are 36 weeks along. You really should make your check-ups more regular. Stay put for a while. At least until the baby is born," Healer Blind advised. The story was that Ian and I travelled for his calling. He was an athlete for one of the soul soccer teams. Healer Blind didn't watch sports games. He was told we weren't able to go to prenatal visits often enough, because of the team's travels. I claimed that I always felt fine so I never made it a point to go. Healer Blind of course disapproved.

The Healer took my weight and took a sample of my urine to be sure my sugar levels were low. After asking several questions about my diet, he gave me a clean bill of health and we were allowed to go.

"Before you go, I was just wondering what you plan to do with the child. Just for the records, are you going to have a soul inserted or are you going to wait?" Healer Blind asked.

"We are going to wait," Ian answered quickly. "It may not happen at all," he mumbled.

"You're going to leave it human?"

"Eyes Forward," I said calmly. "We really need to discuss things before we answer."

Ian looked at me. He realized what he said may seem suspicious to the Healer.

"We really haven't dealt with this topic yet," I lied to the healer. "But we are in agreement of waiting. I want to see what a human baby is like first."

"Oh well. There are quite a large amount of couples that choose this path. They always give up after a month. We'll see how you feel after it cries in the middle of the night and starts soiling itself," Healer Blind guaranteed.

"I bet we could last longer," Ian whispered under his breath.

"What was that?" the Healer queried.

"How much longer? You know until we could go?" Ian reiterated.

"You're free to leave now."

We got up and the Healer grabbed my file and placed it in the pocket on the door, so that the administration could put it away. As he left, Mel came around the corner and took the file. We all kept walking right out the door.

Next on our agenda was shopping for the baby. We drove out to another town, in case someone may have notice what Mel did. Jared pulled into a parking lot of a huge store that was wall to wall baby products on the first floor. The second floor contained children and adult clothes. We all split up into twos and threes. The boys went together. Sunny and Mel together, and Trudy, Lily and I were grouped together. Ian and Jared went straight to the _boy _toy section. I know Ian knows that there is a 50/50 chance of having a girl, but I guess men always think boy first. Sunny and Mel went shopping for clothes. Trudy reminded them to think gender neutral, but I caught Sunny pulling some dresses off the rack. My group went for the food, diapers, and furniture. Trudy advised me on which crib and playpen I should be looking for. She said I needed one that allowed me to work the locks with one hand. I didn't understand why until she explained that the other hand would be holding the baby. That was something only a woman with experience with babies would think of. When I get back to the caves I planned to ask her about that.

When everyone was done and I made Ian put half his stuff back because he picked things for an older baby (storing them would have taken up precious storage space that could be used for food), we headed upstairs to get some clothes for everyone. Jared and huffed as the women went to try on the items they selected. We all got some extra stuff for the others in the caves.

When we girls were done, Mel and I got a surprise. Ian and Jared had selected a few "essentials" from the lingerie department. My face turned beet red when I saw them. How was I supposed to wear these frilly red and black two pieces and still look good with this bulging belly? Mel just took hers and smiled at Jared.

**A/N: How was this chapter? R&R please.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for the responses. Here goes another chapter. I know some of you were wondering when this was going to happen. I hope you like it.**

Ch. 11

We walked into the caves carrying the baby supplies and placed them in the storage area. Well everyone except me, because Ian wouldn't let me lift a finger. Sunny ran in quickly to find Kyle. I walked behind her. It sounded like she made it to the main courtyard, but then there was suddenly a commotion. I picked up the pace as the others raced from behind me. When I got there, I saw Emily had grabbed Sunny from behind and was holding a knife to her throat. Those people in the room surrounded her and she was yelling at them and at Sunny.

"She's going to bring them! Didn't you check her? Her eyes reflect light," she claimed. "You won't get us! I will stop you!" she declared to Sunny. Emily's knife pressed dangerously close to Sunny's throat.

"Someone call Kyle!" I yelled. Ian just came up behind me, while Kyle came running in from the other side.

"Kyle," Sunny sobbed. Tears flowed down her face, but she appeared too frozen to try and get away.

"Now Emily, ya don't wanna do that," Jeb stated with his shotgun pointed.

"Let her go!" Kyle yelled. "If you spill one drop of her blood, you will have to deal with me."

Ian pulled me back. "You need to stay in the dim light. She still doesn't know about you."

"But I need to help Sunny," I contradicted.

"There are more than enough of us. You need to stay safe," he replied. I moved back behind most of the people, but I decided to stay around just in case.

"You all don't understand. I'm helping. She will bring the Seekers. We are all going to be caught."

"She's not the enemy Emily," Doc proclaimed. "We live here in peace."

"But she isn't Sunny. This is some body-snatcher pretending. Why don't you believe me?" Emily looked very confused as more people surrounded and most of the men closed ranks. Kyle and Jared were closest, but Andy and Brent were flanking them.

Melanie was holding Jamie back. It looked like he was trying to get through. He whispered something in her ear and then tried to maneuver through again. She wouldn't let go.

It was very loud and there was plenty of yelling back and forth. Sunny was holding onto the arm that had the knife trying to prevent it from getting to close. She kept crying "please," wanting to be released. Sunny's face was red and soaked with tears, while Emily's was red from anger.

Jamie finally made it to the front line. He stood in front of Emily, protecting her from the possible gang attack that was going to happen. I hope they won't converge, because she might cut Sunny accidentally. It was so violent.

"Hold on!" he yelled waving his hands up defensively. Everyone became quiet. He turned around to face Emily. "Emily, you need to let Sunny go."

"No Jamie. She's isn't who she says she is. There is one of the alien scum in her. She is not Sunny. I could end this before it starts," she assumed.

Jamie took a step closer. "Emily, you don't understand. You need to put down the knife," he said as gently as possible, "because Sunny was always that way."

Emily stiffened slightly. "What?"

Sunny gasped and her head shook infinitesimally. _He is going to tell her._

"Sunny, we already knew she had a soul inside her. Her body was called Jodi. But, Sunny is part of this community. She isn't a threat and you are hurting her. There are others," he admitted.

_No!_ I screamed in my head. _He wouldn't tell her about me?_

Ian looked warily at me as I made eye contact with his beautiful blues.

"More?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. You trust me, right? We've done everything together. We're never apart." Jamie carefully pulled out an object from his pocket, a flashlight. He turned it on and pointed it at his eyes. They reflected.

"No!" she gasped and dropped the knife. She still held onto Sunny.

"I never hurt you," he stated. "I'm still the same Jamie that worked by your side. The same Jamie you played soccer with yesterday. The same Jamie . . ." he took a step closer and lowered his voice. "You kissed on the cornfield and in the dark corridors." He took her hand away from Sunny's throat and Sunny took off into Kyle's awaiting arms. "The same Jamie," he said looking into Emily's coffee brown eyes. Emily was frozen in his gaze.

Suddenly Jared tackled her and Mel pulled Jamie away.

"No!" Emily screamed.

"Wait!" Jamie yelled. "She didn't know!"

Jared and Brent pulled her up, keeping a strong hold on her arms, and took her down to one of the tunnels.

"Don't hurt her," Jamie called to them. "What are they going to do?" he questioned Jeb. Mel picked up the knife.

"There needs to be a tribunal. We need to decide if she stays. Ya know the rules. She attacked one of us," he answered.

Kyle was embracing Sunny and she was sobbing. He began kissing her rigidly all over her face. I knew Kyle cared about Sunny, but I never saw him show her that much affection, at least not in public. "Are you okay?" He inspected her neck.

"Yeah. She's really strong. I didn't notice her on the side and I looked up at the bright mirrors. They are so fascinating."

I came over to the center group. "Jamie, are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine. She just got away from me. I looked away for a second. I'm sorry Sunny," he apologized.

"That was a clever idea with the _Visions_. You are wearing them, right?" I mused.

"Yes." He pulled one out then placed it back in. "I figured she wasn't going to believe Sunny was still herself, because she just came from being outside. She needed to see that there was someone she could trust that had an insertion. I'm the only one who has been around her consistently," he spoke sorrowfully. "Jared wouldn't hurt her right?" he asked Mel. She nodded, but then looked at me. Jared had no problem hitting me when I was in Mel's body. But then again, Emily is human.

**A/N: How was that? Was it like you expected? R&R**


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

"They better not kick her out," Jamie claimed. "Because I'm going to go with her."

"No," both Mel and I shouted.

"Jamie, both Wanda and I didn't risk our lives to find you just so that you could be lost out there."

"I'm not going to get caught. The souls will believe I'm like them. She already thinks I'm an 'alien scum,' so I can't take these lenses off." He looked at me. "Sorry Wanda," he repented. "By the way these _Visions_ are really great. I think I might be able to see in the dark." He walked over to the dark tunnel for a minute then walked back into the light. "Nope, still need the light."

"Jamie, you can't leave. It doesn't matter if she thinks you're a soul. You're not," I explained. "Eventually, the Seekers will realize that when you blow your cover trying to save her. As good an actor as you are, she wouldn't pass for a soul. You are safe here."

I looked at Jeb. "Your house right? You can't let Jamie leave."

Jeb looked around. "It's really up ta Kyle and Ian as well as ya and Sunny," he suggested. "It affects ya all most."

"Ian?" I pondered.

Ian looked to his brother then came over to me and put his hands on my belly. "I don't want her to stay."

"Me neither," Kyle chimed in.

"No!" Jamie outburst. "I could make her behave."

"How could we trust her Jamie?" Melanie explained. "What if that was Wanda? Or now that she thinks you're an alien, she pulls the knife on you? She's unstable."

"Give her a chance I know she will be better," he disclosed.

"A chance?" Kyle stated. "She may kill next time," he shouted.

"You almost killed Wanda and you got to stay," Jamie retorted.

"He's right," I affirmed. "We need to give her a chance."

"Wanda," Ian huffed.

"I can't let Jamie go out there. Our baby needs his or her uncle."

"I also think she should stay," Sunny said. "Emily trusts Jamie. She wouldn't have let go otherwise. She believes there are more souls here. She could see we live together."

"No I think that will make her more unstable. Now she won't trust any of us," Ian elaborated. "She hesitated to kill, because she wanted us to know she was only protecting us. She was trying to justify herself. But now she thinks anyone of us could be an alien, she will only try to protect herself and that means she could attack anyone she feels is suspicious."

"Then maybe we should tell her it's just me and Sunny," I whispered. "She will figure me out soon enough. I'm surprised she hasn't yet."

"No," Jamie enlightened. "As long as she believes I'm one of you, everyone is safe. She won't attack anyone. Don't you get it; she was trying to protect us. Now she will see there isn't a threat."

"Jamie, you had so much faith in a soul. Luckily it was Wanda. You think you could have that much faith in a human?" Ian uttered. "A human that was betrayed by those she loved, her own family."

"They weren't her family. They were all refugees. They trusted each other based on the fact they were all human. Here we are all family. We wouldn't betray each other. And we need to show her that. If we kick her out, we are just like them. Throwing her to the wolves. We need to protect her. Trust her. So she will trust us."

"Wow Jamie, when did you get so profound?" Mel asked.

"I learned it from you. You showed me how to have faith against all odds. You came back. Every. Single. Time. Even when you got caught," he told her. "I have faith."

Everyone collected in the recreation room for the trial on Emily. Emily stood in the center under one of the blue lamps. Jared and Brent each still had one hand on her shoulders and she was kneeling and looking down.

Jeb called out to everyone. "Look here. I know ya wanna see what'll happen here, but the decision's already made." Everyone murmured to each other to understand what they missed.

"She stays," he announced. The crowd became loud and people shouted, "What if's." Emily lifted her head and glared at Jamie.

"My house, my rules," Jeb stated in a firm voice.

The people began to disperse and Jamie ran to Emily. Our small group followed.

"You get to stay," he cheered.

Her face stayed solemn. "I don't want to stay."

"What?" he questioned. His face fell.

Her eyes darted around the room. "I can't stay here."

She focused on Jamie. "I'm sorry Jamie. I know you say I could trust you, but there are aliens down here. All you need is just one to tell the Seekers and we are all doomed."

"There is only three," I claimed.

"You're lying!" she pointed out.

"Okay, just two," I said. No lie there. She fixed her eyes on me. "Just me and Sunny."

"Wanda," Jamie protested. She looked at Jamie.

"He was trying to protect me," I told her. "I'm carrying Ian's child. I would never ever betray him. And, Sunny would never betray Kyle. You are safe here. Out there, not so much."

Jamie drew her attention. "In here there is only two and they _are_ family. Outside are loads many, so please don't leave."

"I'm sorry Jamie. I'd rather be on my own. There is only one person I could trust and that's me. Even you lied to me Jamie. You told me I was safe from the enemy down here. I told you what those things did. They took everything away from me. Then you say you're one of them." She took a deep sigh.

"You are safe down here. No one will hurt you. I wasn't lying," Jamie reiterated.

"But you said you were one of them and that _was_ a lie," she stated firmly. "I'm going to get my things. If someone could drop me off in the nearest town. I would really appreciate it." She left to go to her room.

Jamie and Jared were designated to take her to Tucson. They took an extra pair of _Visions_ to help her blend in and after putting her to sleep, they left with her.

When Jamie and Jared came back, Jamie looked heartbroken. His tears had made clean streaks down his slightly reddened face. He must have really liked her to have gotten emotional in front of Jared. Jamie usually tried to stay as stoic as Jared is when he was around.

"She's going to be fine Jamie," I heard Jared say. "She's been on her own before. She is real tough."

"She'd rather be out there than with me. Yeah she's tough. Tough as nails," he responded. Jamie began walking away quickly.

"Jamie."

"Jared, just leave me alone!" Jamie called back.

**A/N: What do you think? Please review and give me clues to continue. I have a few ideas. I will update as soon as I can.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well poor Jamie. Here's the next Chapter. Hope you like it.**

Ch. 13

No one saw Jamie around the caves for a couple of days. He finally started to come out and do his chores again after he had a talk with Melanie. I guess sometimes people need their real family. Things were getting back to normal. I woke up one day and suddenly I had this urge to set up the crib. I went to the kitchen to get some food first. The food had gotten so good recently. Even strange combinations tasted pleasing to me. Ian said that it didn't what I mixed; I gobbled it up so quickly I probably didn't even have a chance to taste it anyway. After breakfast I noticed Jamie sitting alone not bothering to eat what was on his plate.

"Jamie, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I was just wondering what Emily is doing at this moment," he confessed.

"You really liked her, huh?"

He stayed silent, but just picked at his eggs.

Jamie usually had an appetite that put mine to shame. He needed a distraction. "Hey Jamie, I could really use your help. Since it is your fault I'm in this petite body that is basically useless at the moment, could you help lift the crib box to my room so we could put it together?"

"Sure," he commented welcoming the diversion.

When we finished putting it together, I wanted to set up the playpen next.

"Wanda the baby isn't even here yet. Why are you even bothering? There won't be room in your room to move around," he pronounced.

"I don't know. I just want to do something. Hey, you want to play a round of soccer?" I asked excited.

"What? Wanda you can't play soccer. You're bigger sideways than tall. What's wrong with you?" he interrogated with anxiety.

"It's just I need to move around. I feel if I sit still, I'll miss something."

"I think you should see Doc," he recommended.

I practically broke out into a sprint, waddling over to the hospital wing. If Jamie wasn't holding onto me, I might have fallen over a couple of times.

"Doc, there is something wrong with Wanda. She wants to play soccer and was running," Jamie informed him.

"Really? Jamie I think you should go get Ian," Doc directed. I began to worry. Jamie left quickly.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Did you start preparing your room?" he asked not answering my question.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're nesting, Wanda. You feel like a burst of energy, right?"

"_Nesting_?" I mused. _What do birds have to do with this?_

"Your body is telling you the baby will be coming soon. It is one of the symptoms of oncoming labor. I think you should stick around," Doc explained.

"Oncoming labor! You mean the baby is really coming? But I feel fine. Isn't there supposed to be a lot of pain and something about 'water breaking,' whatever that is?" I started panicking. Where was Ian? This was all new to me. All I knew was the endless amount of stories people around here were full of. They all scared me. I didn't think I was ready for all that was about to happen.

"Don't worry Wanda. Freedom was born here, remember? There is lots of _No Pain_ so you'll be pain free," he tried to comfort me. It wasn't working. I went to sit on the cot and Doc began preparing himself.

Ian came running in. "Jamie said Wanda was in here."

"Yeah. She's fine right now, but I think she will give birth within 24 hours. She's showing the first sign."

"Um, Doc," I said. "I think I just fig out what 'water breaking' means. I'm all wet."

"What1!" Ian yelled.

"Ow!" I screamed. There was a sudden shot of pain into my back. I never felt that much pain since I first came here and they stuffed me in the hole.

"It's starting. I'll get the _No Pain_. You'll be just fine Wanda," Doc said calmly. He went to grab the white container and took out the tissue-like medicine. He placed it on my extended tongue and gave me some water to drink. I waited shifting my body weight moving side-to-side, trying to move around the pain. Another shot of pain inflicted me. "Ow! It's not working!"

"Maybe you need a double dose. Pregnancy pain is second to none," Doc suggested. He placed another tissue on my tongue. The pain still wasn't leaving.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Help her doc," Ian called.

"Fine. Just breathe through the pain," he told me. He maneuvered my legs, so I was in a better position for giving birth.

I never understood why humans did it this way. By the size of the baby, and I had a good estimate of how big it was based on my belly size, how could it ever get out of a hole so small? Of course it would be painful.

Doc felt my stomach to see how far down the baby was. "Breathe like this." He did two quick breaths then blew out a long one. I mimicked him.

"It's not working!" I whined. "The pain is unbearable. How much longer?"

"You're at +4 station, Wanda. It's going to be a while," he stated.

"What!" I said breathless from the huffing.

After a few hours, I was still in extreme pain and still at +4 station. The baby hadn't moved at all. Ian kept asking for forgiveness and tried to comfort me as best as he could. Nothing he did seemed to relieve the pain. I kept tearing with every contraction. It seemed like there wasn't any break from the pain.

"Please Doc. Just put me to sleep. I can't take this anymore," I begged.

"I don't understand," he expressed to Ian. "The contractions are 2 minutes apart and she is dilated to 10 cm. She should be about to deliver. Something is wrong."

"Doc, you can't say stuff like that." He grabbed Doc by the collar. "You don't say something is wrong without having a solution. This is my Wanda here," Ian claimed with minute anger.

"I – I think we need to take her to a Healer," he stuttered. "I don't want to do a c-section with her not responding to the _No Pain_. Maybe the Healers have something that would work."

**A/N: OMG! What do you think will happen next? Send me ideas, or at least your responses. I'll update as soon as I can.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. And to those of you who read my story, but don't leave a response, let's hope I could write something to inspire you. Here is another chapter.**

Ch. 14

The two of them decided that it was best to put me to sleep and then take me to Tucson. When I woke up, I was at the hospital. Ian, Jared, and Doc were with me. I was laying down on any kind of rolling cot and there was a Healer speaking to Ian.

"Doc, what are you doing here?" I whispered.

"You needed to be carried out," he informed me as if it should have been obvious.

"I understand that, but don't the people need you in the caves?"

"They have Candy. I need to be here to see what is wrong. You're a mystery, Wanda," he commented with a smirk.

I took a deep breath as the pain hit me again. Doc went over to Ian and the Healer.

"How are you doing, Wanda?" Jared asked. "Do you need to hold my hand? You could squeeze it as hard as you want. I think that is supposed to help." He put his hand in mine. It seemed like a ridiculous idea to me. It is a violent thought to inflict pain on others to decrease your own. But as the pain increased, I automatically squeezed. I hadn't really known why?

"Ow, Ow, Ow, **OW**! Shoot Wanda!" he swore. "I didn't know you were that strong."

"I'm so sorry."

He pulled his hand out of mine extended and flexed the fingers testing if I broke any then gave it back. "I was just kidding Wanda," he smiled.

I'm in a whole lot of pain and he is making me unnecessarily worry about his fingers. I never realized Jared could be irritating. _Did I just think that?_

With another shot of pain I screamed, "Ian!" I forgot we were supposed to be using fake names. He and the Healer came over.

"Sorry Wanda. We were trying to sort things out." I guess he forgot as well.

"Hello, I'm Healer Eyes on the Sea. You're partner and I were just discussing how the _No Pain_ wasn't working. We are going to roll you into a room and see if we could see what the problem is," he said with calmness.

Once in the room, I was hooked up to a machine that made lines on a piece of paper. With each painful contraction, the lines would move from one side to the other. The Healer brought in a portable sonogram machine and began to look at my baby on the screen.

"Well that's not right," Healer Eyes commented.

"What's not right?" Ian questioned.

"Owww!" I shouted. I was holding onto the mattress and crushing it. Nothing seemed to ease my pain.

"You see that there," the Healer pointed. "The muscles of the uterus are pressing on this opaque white line here."

"So?" Ian inquired.

"So there shouldn't _**be**_ an opaque line here."

"What does that mean?" It sounded like Ian was on the verge of panic. The Healer looked at him oddly.

I screamed in pain to distract the Healer.

"That's an antenna your partner here has attached to the baby," Healer Eyes explained. He turned to me. "One host isn't enough for you?"

I tried to hold back me anger. I was really losing it from the pain. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"That's why the _No Pain_ isn't working. It is meant for the host's pain sensors not our own. You need to let go of the baby. You're preventing it from moving down the birth canal."

Ian looked at me with disbelief. I knew me being a parasite would eventually bother him. "Wanda, let go of the baby," he said, as if he saying it versus the Healer will make me do it.

Another surge of pain hit. My eyes shut tight and I bit my lip. "I can't. I don't know how." I said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe there is something I could do. Let me just get someone to help first," the Healer stated. He opened the door to leave when he fell over backwards.

"Missed me?" Emily walked in wearing scrubs and holding a canister of sleep up in the air.

"Emily?" Ian glanced. "What did you do?"

"He's one of them," she commented. "He made me as a human before, but they thought I left. I saw you come in and I wanted to see you guys. I miss Jamie."

"Well that's good for you, but Emily you can't just attack people like that. Wanda's in labor and he was going to help!" Ian yelled.

"I'm sorry," she said solemnly.

"Ian!" I grabbed his sleeve for attention. "Get Doc!" I panted in pain.

"Okay Wanda." He ran out of the room.

Emily began to pull the unconscious Healer to the side with as much effort as she could muster. Doc and Jared came into the room quickly with Ian.

"Doc, help please," I begged.

Ian explained the situation and how the _No Pain_ prevents any pain done onto the host, but not on me physically.

"Maybe I should attempt the c-section," he mused to Ian.

"But Wanda's attached to the baby."

"I need to do something. The baby needs to come out already."

He grabbed the c-section kit that was prepared in each room for emergencies. I lied there while Doc cut open my stomach. Even if I hadn't taken the double dose of _No Pain,_ I doubt I would have felt anything over the contractions pressing on my antenna. There was so much blood pouring out of me. Doc pulled out my pink uterus **(yes it is dark pink) **and did another slice onto it to pull the baby out. The baby took its first breath and began to cry.

"This is when I would cut the cord, but since Wanda is attached, I don't want to risk it. She may panic and shred her host's organs."

"We need to do something," Jared suggested.

The muscles were still pressing on my antenna and I couldn't even think through the pain.

Ian moved over to my ear. "Let go of the baby Wanda, please."

"I can't." Tears flowed down my eyes. "I don't know how to do that consciously. We only release when we are being removed from a host."

"Doc?" Ian turned to him.

"I can't. She needs to be closed up immediately before she bleeds too much. Her uterus is still contracting," he explained. The baby was still crying away.

Ian's eyes suddenly lit up. "Wanda you're a mother."

I partly winced and smiled. "I guess. I just had a baby," I said breathless. I was in too much pain to be enjoying anything.

"No, I mean the soul part of you is a mother. You could divide your cells. Just don't do all of them. Split part of you off. Break off the antenna," he indicated.

"What? Even if I could, that would be extremely painful," I told him.

"More than you are already in?"

I couldn't comprehend anything. Could I really do something that focused as a specific cell split?

"Come on Wanda. Just try," Ian pleaded.

I closed my eyes and focused in thought. Pain hit me again. I opened my eyes. "Did it work?"

"No," Doc shook his head.

I tried again, this time really making the decision. "AHH!" I screamed and everything went black.

**A/N: Ahh, this is giving me the chills. How about you? R&R.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I was too excited to leave it hanging any longer. Remember I don't own The Host, just my imagination. Here's another chapter.**

Ch. 15

I woke up and I was in another room. My belly was all healed and Ian was asleep on the chair next to me. His hand was in mine. On the other side I saw Emily feeding a bottle to a black-haired baby and Doc and Jared were cooing at it.

"I'm still here," I whispered. My voice sounded hoarse.

"Hey Wanda," Jared whispered to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not in any pain, so that is good," I answered. I let go of Ian and tried to sit up. "How long have I been out?"

"A while. It's the middle of the night."

"I want to thank you guys and apologize for any loss of temper or yelling that I did," I admitted.

"Wanda, you were in pain. You're supposed to yell. It relieves some tension," Doc explained.

Doc took the baby from Emily and brought it over to me. "Say hello to your son," he smiled. "Ten fingers and ten toes."

I smiled and took hold of my baby. "Hey," I said.

"There's more," Doc continued. "Hey baby, say hello to your mom."

The baby opened his eyes and deliberately smiled at me. The eyes were a deep midnight blue that clearly came from Ian. But, there was a silver ring around the pupil.

"Apparently your son has a piece of you inside. He will probably have the knowledge he inherited from you, but he gets to see his mother," Doc said. "The host _and_ the soul."

I was in awe. This was really _my_ child, not just my host and Ian's.

"Does anyone else know?" I pondered, worried that he may be taken away from me at any minute.

"No," Emily said. "We managed to keep it a secret, because Doc here played Healer and Ian told the nursery that you didn't want the baby to leave your side."

I looked down at Doc's clothes. He was wearing Healer Eyes on the Sea's scrubs.

"What happened to Healer Eyes?" I questioned.

They all looked uncomfortable. "I gave him some _Vomit_," Emily said.

"What?"

"It's an inducer for people who may have ingested some food poisoning," Doc enlightened me. "He went home to rest."

"What a disgusting name for a medication. Surely they could have come up with a better name for it," I wondered.

"It's not an alien medication," Emily clarified. "I made it myself. I have been hanging around the hospital for a while. It's really great here, but if it is okay, could I go back with you guys? No more attacking, I promise."

We all looked at each other.

"Please? I really miss Jamie," she said.

"You're going to behave?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay."

"Yay! I'll babysit whenever you want, except when I'm busy, of course. It's no problem," she promised. "Or when I'm with Jamie . . ."

"Don't worry about it," I assured her.

I looked at the baby again and he stared at me. He took his small hand and touched my face. He smiled again. This was just amazing.

"Could someone wake Ian up? I want to name the baby," I requested. Jared turned to Ian and nudged him gently. Ian opened his eyes.

"Hey Ian," I smiled. "What do you want to name this adorable creature?"

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "I have no idea, Wanda. Maybe Wanderer Too?"

"Yuck. What about Ian Jr?" I suggested, using the human form for a namesake.

"It's not cool enough for this half breed."

We all started recommending names, but none fit.

"What about 'Born with a Soul'?" Ian finally proposed. "We could call him 'Born' for short or just 'B'. That's cool."

"Born with a Soul. I like it," I averred.

"How do you like it B?" he asked the baby. The baby looked at his dad and stuck out his tongue.

"I guess he'll just have to get used to it," Ian said.

We decided I would stay at the hospital overnight and then leave in the morning. The others went to the hotel across the street. Doc commented before he left how hospital stays used to be common for patients and that family members used to stay in hotels nearby while the patient was being treated. Now the only people that stay in hospitals overnight are those females that had babies. The fathers would be at the hotels resting. The reason for the stay was to teach the new moms how to care for human babies until they were ready for insertion. That ranged from a day to about a week. It depended on how healthy the child was at birth.

When I woke up, there was a Healer leaning over B. He was asleep and the Healer was listening to his light breaths and his heartbeat.

"Excuse me," I whispered calmly, even though I was anxious. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hello. I didn't want to wake you. My name is Healer Ice foot. It says on record that Healer Eyes on the Sea was there for the birth, but I remember he went home yesterday. Someone covered for him, but didn't write his/her name. Do you remember the Healer that assisted you?"

I never found out the name Doc used. "I don't know. I lost consciousness."

"No worries. Healer Eyes will be here soon and he will inform us on who relieved him. No one seems to claim the job. Meanwhile, I'll give you some instruction on human infant care."

She told me that my human host hormone levels will be increasing causing outbursts of crying, sadness, anxiety, or panic. She gave me a wide cylinder. It contained a translucent cream that was scented like some kind of flower.

"It's called _Relax_. You put some of the lavender scented cream under your nose whenever you feel you are losing control. It calms you down instantly," she explained.

"Thank you."

She indicated that the host's body produces food for the baby and precisely how I should hold the baby to administer it. She called it 'nursing.' Such a strange term for it. I thought 'a nurse' was a human medical professional that aided the human doctors. What did feeding a baby have to do with that? The term really should be called 'drinking' or 'milking' like with a cow. She continued on to show me how to change his diaper and how to clean him. Healer Ice explained how tired I might feel, but I wasn't allowed to use _Sleep_ on my human baby or myself_._

"The baby awakens because it needs to eat. We wouldn't want the little thing to starve. You'll just have to endure it until insertion," Healer Ice indicated.

"What about my partner? Couldn't he feed the baby formula?"

"Sure, he could. Your chest will hurt a bit until the milk dries up. I'll be sure to bring you some _No Pain_ before you leave."

A noise started coming from the little plastic crib. Not really a cry but a whimper.

"Sounds like your baby woke up." Healer Ice turned to B and lifted him carefully. I noticed that he seemed not fully awake and so his eyes were closed.

"Please give me my baby," I said with haste. I didn't want her to figure out his secret. She handed him to me and waited for me to start feeding him. It was awkward at first.

"Good," she complimented. "Looks like you're a natural." She got up and left the room.

As the door shut, Born with a soul opened his eyes and smiled. I looked at him. I wondered if he understood what was going on. Had he kept his eyes closed purposefully? Logically, he shouldn't be able to. We as souls access human knowledge from the host's brain. That is how we know the language, but a baby, it's still learning things. I could only guess B knew things that I knew. And what I know is that if someone spots his soul eyes, they might take him away.

**A/N: How about that? R&R please.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I was trying to think up a good escape scenario. I hope you guys find it entertaining. **

Ch. 16

After my breakfast, Healer Eyes walked in.

"There's my patient. Oh, I see the baby is here, too. I heard there was a bit of confusion. I remember the human girl that has been wondering around the hospital, sprayed me with _Sleep_. When I woke up, my clothes were gone. I tried to tell the other Healers, but I couldn't stop vomiting, so they sent me home. I had the Seekers called this morning. Did she get you too? I heard you were unconscious."

"Um . . . I don't know. I think I passed out from the pain," I confessed. Just then Ian walked in and froze completely when he saw the Healer.

"Ah, Ian," the Healer smiled. "Just the soul to shed some light on the subject."

"What?" Ian sounded worried.

"What happened to the human who put me to sleep? And who helped your partner with the antenna problem? No one seems to have any answers." I heard a sound of suspicion laced in his voice and I knew we need to think fast. "You are the only witness."

"Oh." Ian was backing up slightly to the doorway. He closed it with his foot just as I saw Jared, Doc, and Emily approach.

The door knocked. "Excuse me," Ian told the Healer. He opened the door ajar and mouthed, "Get to the van." He closed it again. "They had the wrong room. Well, she ran off laughing. I didn't really get a good look at her. I was focusing on Wanda here. I never caught the Healer's name either. He might have been visiting someone and noticed I needed help. You know, because you were on the floor. We just moved you to the side and got the baby out," Ian lied flawlessly.

"But what about the antenna, how did you get her to let go? The very possibility of an antenna attachment happening to our current knowledge was not even plausible. The learning that could be done . . ." Healer Eye asked curiously.

He sounded like Doc. I wonder if his host was a doctor, too.

Ian looked flabbergasted. "Um."

I looked at my end table with the _Relax_ on it. "I think when I lost consciousness, I just relaxed enough to let go," I injected quickly.

"Yeah," Ian agreed to the obvious lie. "She just let go." I was scared. He was already suspicious and may hear the lie.

"Oh okay. I need to do a thorough examination of your child before you could be discharged. There isn't one on record."

"That's not necessary," Ian claimed. "The other Healer told me the baby was fine. We would like to leave."

"I still need to have it done. The records need to be completed. Important rule of patient care on this planet, if it wasn't written down, it wasn't done. We take complete care of our patients," Healer Eyes declared. He walked over to the baby and started checking his reflexes. B started crying.

"You're hurting him," I stated.

"Nonsense. This is how they communicate," Healer Eyes explained.

"Well it looks like he is communicating that he doesn't like it," Ian said.

Healer Eyes pulled out something resembling a pen from his scrub shirt pocket. He held a button and it lit up.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I quickly got out of bed.

"I'm going to check if his irises constrict with light."

"They do." I held onto his arm.

"Let go of me. I need to see for myself," he said.

He held the button down and kept Born's eyes open. Born was wailing away. As the light passed over his eyes I let out a little yelp hoping to distract the Healer. The Healer looked up as the light flicked back at him.

"What the . . . he already had an insertion?" He turned B over. "But there isn't a scar."

"I had enough of this," Ian said. With extremely rapid movements Ian pulled out a white container and sprayed it at the Healer. Healer Eyes collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Where did you get that?" I inquired to Ian.

"From Emily. I didn't think I would agree with her tactic yesterday, but this Healer is too smart for his own good. You stay here. I'm going to get some help."

"Why?"

"We're going to take him with us," he responded.

"What?"

"He knows too much. We can't let him inform the others."

"Ian, be careful. He already called the Seekers."

After a few minutes passed, Ian came in with Jared and Doc, both dressed in scrubs. They had with them a rolling cot.

"We'll stick Healer Eyes on this gurney and roll him out to the back exit, where Emily has the car running," Jared explained.

"She could drive?" I queried.

"We'll find out soon enough," Jared stated.

I put on my clothes, grabbed some baby formula and extra bottles from the room, and we began to move swiftly out of there. We made it to the elevator, when I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Wanda, Wanda. Wait!" it was Healer Ice Foot. I noticed some people around not in scrubs and knew they were Seekers. The elevator opened and Jared and Doc pushed Healer Eyes in. I turned around to Healer Ice, hoping not to create a scene.

"Yes Healer Ice," I spoke softly. The elevator door closed. Ian was beside me with B in his arms.

"You can't leave like that," Healer Ice explained. "For the safety of your child he must be pushed out in his bassinette by a Healer. Hospital policy." She was rolling the plastic crib to me. "You also forgot the _No Pain_."

"Oh yes." Ian placed B in the bassinette and the Healer began pushing it.

"No, I got it," Ian said.

"Ian, why don't you bring the van to the front and wait for me there," I suggested. It looked like Healer Ice was adamant about following the rules. All souls are.

He took off and when Healer Ice and I came to the front entrance, the van was there with the engine running. Ian was in the driver's seat.

"Thank you so much for your help Healer," I told her. She handed me the _No Pain_ and some more _Relax_. She stood there waiting. I opened the door expecting to have a full car and some explaining to do, but it was empty. The only thing in there was an object that had a seatbelt strapped around it. Ian hopped out of the van and put the baby in the object.

"What's that?" I questioned.

"It's a car seat for the baby," Ian answered. "This way the baby stays safe in the van."

"Good. I wanted to be certain you had one," the Healer remarked. "Good luck. And I guess I'll see you at the insertion. Bye." She went inside to the hospital.

Ian and I got into the van. I sat beside Born with a Soul and he opened his eyes carefully. I guess he was only pretending to sleep during our escape. Ian pointed out the car by the hospital with red and blue lights attached. "Seekers," he said.

Ian drove around to the back and helped the others load the sleeping Healer.

"I can't wait to get back to the caves. I haven't done a removal in a while," Doc said excited.

"A removal?" Emily said questioningly.

"Yeah. We know how to take a soul out of a host if needs be," he explained.

"You could do that? Then why do you keep Wanda and Sunny?" she asked.

"We told you before. They are part of the community. Who do you think showed us how?"

"Boy. I have a lot to learn about you guys," she mused.

I looked at B seated in the car seat that no one thought to get on our shopping trip. Jared was nice enough to get one at the hospital gift shop. Born was looking around, like he was taking everything in.

I fed B whenever we could stop at a rest stop. I never realized that at every sound Born made, my chest would leak milk. It was very embarrassing.

**A/N: Did you like how it is going? Please comment.**


	17. Chapter 17 Part 2: Beware of Unknown

**A/N: Hi everyone. I finally got a chance to update. Sorry it took so long. Here it goes.**

**Chapter 17 **

The drive didn't take that long. We got to the desert highway where our cave was, but the desert wasn't deserted. There were several vans and cars parked in the area. Many of the vans had odd objects attached to the roof. There were some males and some females setting up large tents. This seemed very strange to me. They didn't look like any of them were Seekers. What could all these souls be doing here in the middle of nowhere? There was no way we were going to be able to get to our cave entrance without rousing suspicion as to why we were in the area. Ian kept on driving. We all just looked at each other, hoping they weren't looking for our home.

"What are we going to do?" Doc asked.

"I say we just walk out there and see what's going on. You could fool them, can't you Wanda?" Emily suggested.

"What do we say when they ask us why we are here?" Jared chimed in. "Not to mention we have a sleeping Healer as a hostage."

"And B. We also have a baby. Souls are usually not suspicious, but that would alarm them," I reminded them all.

"Ian, keep driving. We could stay in the next town and they might be gone tomorrow," Jared said.

"I don't think they are going anywhere," Doc said. "Those instruments they are pulling out look like seismographs. Think about it. We live in a cave created by volcanic magma flow. The volcano has been dormant but maybe?"

"No!" Jared yelled. "Jeb assured everyone that there was no more activity in the volcano." I knew what he was thinking Mel and Jamie were still down in the caves. They couldn't all be gone we just saw them a couple of days ago.

"Calm down, Jared," Ian called out. "We all have family down there. We need to think this through logically."

"Of course nothing drastic has happened. It would be on TV and I wasn't told, I mean at the hospital. If a volcano exploded, we all would know about it," Emily justified.

"I haven't spotted any Seeker vehicles, so the cave hasn't been discovered," I added.

"Well, there must have been some earthquake activity, because why else would they be here?" Doc wondered. "It had to be pretty small. We didn't feel anything in Tucson."

As Ian continued to drive, the desert crowd thinned out to emptiness except a lone familiar van by the side of the road. It was Nate's van. We pulled up beside it. Both Nate and Ian removed their lenses to show they are still human.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ian asked.

He looked extremely surprised to see us. "How did you guys get out? Burns and I were sure your cave was in the midst of that crowd out there."

"We were in Tucson." Ian explained about the difficult situation I was in with Born and that we now have a hostage to take care of.

1"You guys could crash at my pad for a while until all these scientist types clear out. As far as we know, they started appearing yesterday afternoon. Gail told us about the activity and Burns is out there right now finding out what's going on."

I was confused. This plan didn't make sense. "Nate, do you think if we really crash the van the scientists will leave to come and help? I would think then they would send the seekers," I told him.

"No Wanda. 'Crash' is another way of saying stay over for a while. He was inviting us to come to his cave," Ian laughed.

"Oh." Even their kind invitations use violent words.

"It's probably a good idea. Born needs a place to sleep comfortably," Doc suggested.

Just then Burns came and climbed into Nate's van. He bent over Nate to peek at Ian and the inside of our van. "Hello everyone. Wanda, you had your baby. That's great."

"Thanks. What did you find out?" I asked.

"Well there was a slight tremor two days ago. This planet's land shifts from time to time."

"An earthquake," doc stated.

"Right. The thing is no one would have known about it except there was someone driving by and they reported it," Burns explained. "The souls here are trying to detect any additional movement. They were all excited about learning more about this planet, but so far they've got nothing. They will probably move on soon."

"It probably is best to take up Nate's offer. The Healer will eventually wake," Jared advised.

Nate began driving away and Ian followed. "As far as I could tell, the souls out there are mainly focusing on the area near the road. They are nowhere near the cave entrance. Hopefully it won't be discovered. I'll come out here alone tonight and try to get there on foot. They won't be outside of those tents, so I won't be seen," Jared claimed. "I could tell Mel and the others about what's going on." I understood what he felt. He needed to see that Mel and Jamie were fine before he could completely relax. I felt the same way. They also wouldn't know what happened to us and it would be unfair to have them unnecessarily worry. It would cause them to take dangerous risks.

The drive to Nate's cave wasn't very long, but it was closer to the mountains than Jeb's. It made me wonder how he had found our van's hiding place the first time. They said it was accidental. Maybe they found tracks, although Jared was always very careful. Nate was more familiar with the idea of other rebel cells, so he probably recognized signs of humans more easily than most.

I began to get nervous when we pulled into a cavern hidden by a huge boulder. The location was well hidden by cacti and bushes of several types of bare plants. They didn't blindfold us. Nate revealed his home to us in complete trust. I guess he had to we had an unconscious body to move quickly.

**A/N: I know it may not be very exciting, but it's coming along. R&R.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I wanted to get this one done. The Host is a really great story and I hope that I did the story justice with the sequel. As a reminder I don't own The Host, that great honor belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

Ch. 18

Down in his cave there was a familiar smell of sulfur, but there was better lighting. There were more vents on the ceilings of the cave rooms and tunnels. Born stayed quiet in my arms as Ian, Jared, Doc, and Burns carried the Healer's body. The tunnel entrance was too low for the men. They all had to crouch as they lifted. This may have been the only time I was thankful for my petite size. Born gazed around wide-eyed, not capable of physical movement just yet. Human infants didn't have the muscle power. The caves were full of humans to greet us, curious at Nate and Burns return with more humans and a baby. Some I knew from previous raids.

Healer Eyes on the Sea was placed in a secluded cave room and we began to discuss what we needed to do.

"Do you have any cryotanks here?" Doc asked.

"Cryotanks? Why?" Burns replied.

"For the separation," Doc answered. "He knows too much."

Burns stunned, turned to stare at me. "You showed them how to do that?"

"I had to," I quietly said. He began to tug me to the side and I handed B to Ian.

Burns's eyes looked around to my friends and then paused back on me. "Did they threaten you?" he said with his voice low.

1 "No, of course not. I wanted to. We both have different reasons for going native, but ultimately it's our sympathy for these humans. My host was still alive in me. Speaking to me. She became my best friend. I had to save her."

He looked confused. The very idea that I wanted to save my host was odd even to Burns, because most souls took over the body completely. But what I think really confused him was that I was still in my host - at least that's what the humans here thought.

"But you're . . ."

"I'm not in my original host," I said embarrassed. "They gave me a new one when I freed her." I took a breath. "Burns, Nate's your best friend, right?"

"Yeah."

"What if something happened to him? If they stuck a soul in him and he stood in front of you, wouldn't you want to free him?"

"Of course, but I would do it myself. I wouldn't show them. I would want them to use the knowledge to harm countless souls," he whispered.

"Well even for Melanie, I can't do a separation on myself," I spoke in my normal volume.

"Melanie?" Emily called out.

"There are other freed hosts that you've met," I directed to her. Then I turned back to Burns, "All the souls have been sent off planet safely. Me, they decided to keep."

"We wouldn't have it any other way, Wanda," Ian smiled. I noticed Doc rub his throat gently as he remembered.

Burns spoke to the room. "There isn't any cryotanks here."

1"What are we going to do? The Healer will wake soon," Doc reminded us.

"We have the means to keep him hostage, but for how long?" Nate stated. "Do you think he will try to escape?"

"He is clever," Emily chimed in. "He figured me out quickly."

"He knows about Born," Ian simplified. "Something needs to be done before he has a chance to tell." Ian cradled Born lovingly.

"What about Born?" Burns asked.

"I had a little trouble letting go," I commented sheepishly. "He has a piece of me in him."

"You could do that?"

"Apparently."

"It's fascinating," a voice said from behind us. Everyone turned around to face the Healer. Nate's gun was withdrawn. "Whoa," Healer Eyes said warily. His arms were out in front and his face turned slightly away, keeping his eyes low. "I don't mean anyone harm. But that baby . . . if I could examine him further."

"You won't touch him!" Ian yelled. "This is a child, my child. Human or soul, he's not something to be studied."

"But the idea of possible breeding. No more souls would need to give up there lives. The less needed cutting into the host body. Where the attachment is, is a mystery right now, but a sonogram of the spine will explain."

"It won't work for just any soul. I'm a mother."

"Oh. So I take it you all are humans, except for Wanda and him?" He pointed at Burns. "I don't understand."

"There's a lot more that this world has to offer," Burns explained.

"I agree and the humans are ruining it," Healer Eyes stated.

"Who are we to take a life that is not ours? On Fire World there were many flower lives that I took for my own survival. I was happy to leave. But I come here and again I took a life. That's exactly what we do here. Well I say no more. It was wrong then and it's wrong now. Every life is precious."

"They are a species of violence. Look around you. It oozes out of them."

"You're still alive and unharmed," I retorted, though I felt bad for my tone. "They are a lot better than you think."

1 We all left and Nate had Jackson, a large human with dirt-colored hair and a huge rifle, and Adina on guard duty while we waited for nightfall. Adina is one of the humans in Nate's clan I had met before. She has the same red hair like my Healer, Fords Deep Waters. She was built like Melanie, tall and muscular, and was very comfortable with a gun. As soon as I noticed, I lost interest in getting to know her more. Jared had his plan all worked out to get to the others. Emily wanted to join him, she missed Jamie. He assured her one was better to get in and out. "Don't worry. The scientists will leave and we all could go home."

1We were all grouped in one cave on mats. In the middle of the night, I woke up to feed B. His whimpering beside me was hard to sleep through. I was glad the females on this planet were equipped to feed their young, because all the formula I'd gotten on the shopping trip was out of reach at the moment. There were some odd sounds coming from down the tunnel. I knew that Jared had gone to the others. Maybe that was him coming back. I left Born lying beside Ian's chest. I put Ian's arm around B and B was able to go back to sleep. I got up to check on the noise. 1When I got up, I discovered Jackson and Adina were slumped on the floor. The Healer was running toward the cave exit and Emily was leading the way!

I ran back into my room. "Ian!" I said in an urgent whisper, so not to alarm B. He roused awake and so did Doc.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked groggy.

"I'm not sure, but Healer Eyes is making an escape!" They both jumped up and went after him. I picked Born up into my arms - afraid someone else will deceive us, and followed them carefully.

When I caught up, it looked like Emily and Healer Eyes were trapped. Ian, Nate, Doc, and Rob on one side and Burns, Jared, and Mel by the cave exit. Under normal circumstances this would have been a happy reunion.

1"Why are you freeing the Healer, Emily?" Mel questioned.

"Oh Melanie. I was hoping I would get to see you. The other seekers would love to get a hold of you. We never imagined a human could be that deceptive as to convince a soul to side with them. Yes, there may be a soul or two that might be swayed, but to do it while being its host. Amazing! I would love to try you out."

"A Seeker? Emily was captured?"

"Yes, Seeker Lengthy Arms. She was taken the day before you all arrived. She has so many useful memories and her capture was not in public, so I decided with Wanda being a pregnant soul, I should play human. I figured that Wanda would want to give live birth in the comforts of a hospital with soul medicines and a more than qualified Healer. I assumed you all would eventually show up since I knew from Emily's memories that I was in the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, I hadn't had the pleasure of knowing the exact location of your cave, but the exposure of this rebel hideout will do just nicely."

**A/N: I think this chapter is a bit better than the last. What do u guys think? R&R.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I hope you guys like how things go. Here's another chapter. Please keep reviewing. I love getting feedback.**

Ch 19

"Emily," I called out over the confusion. The seeker turned to me. "Don't let her win."

"I'm sorry, but there is no more Emily. I'm not as _weak_ as you, Wanda," the Seeker spat. "I can handle my host." Jared and Ian inched closer to her.

"What about Jamie?" Jared said. "Don't you have any feelings for him?" I thought that was very clever. It was Mel's feelings for him that brought me to side with my new family. Maybe Emily's feelings for Jamie were just as strong.

"Feelings?" the Seeker queried hesitantly. It sounded like Jared might have been right. "The 'feelings' you speak of have no influence on my actions. You all need to be neutralized." Jared inched closer still. I began to get nervous. If the Seeker gets away, she will tell the other Seekers about this place and may figure out where the other cave is. She had no visible weapons, but she must have had something to bring down the Healer's guards. I hoped the Seeker would give up, because as much as I loved my human family - they were not above using violence to save the community.

"Your wrong, Seeker," Burns spoke in his usual soft tone. "These are good humans. They have families and lives that we souls are taking away." Again Jared and Ian stepped closer. Nate also got closer and whispered to Ian.

"Family. Like Melanie's Jamie," she said directed to Jared. "I know from my host's memories how he cares about her. How do you think he will like it if I shred through my host's brain? Now back off!" she said in a stern, _un_soul-like voice. I was surprised she would speak like that. Didn't she want to get away? I worried the other Seekers must already know where we are. "You live with a soul. You know I could. Tell them Wanda." Her face was on Jared and Mel. They paused frozen for a moment.

"Jamie would rather see Emily dead, than have her memories betray us," Mel explained. "And I'm sure you realize death is your only option." Nate jumped toward Emily's body and Ian misted her. The seeker suddenly collapsed to the ground. Ian pointed the _Sleep _at the Healer.

"No, no," he yelled in a panic. "I won't run. I promise I won't run."

"So do you think the seeker did it or did Ian get to her in time?" I asked still holding B in my arms.

"The only way to find out is to either wait until she wakes up or we go in and check," Doc suggested.

"Then I guess you'll need this," Jared added and went back to the exit. he bent down and lifted a cryotank he had brought to separate the Healer from his host. I guess we were now going to use it to free Emily, if Emily was still in there.

"Now I know why you were so fearful that I was a seeker," I realized. "I only thought humans were capable of such treatury."

**A/N: I know this was an extremely short chapter. I wrote it a while ago and I have more, but with my work load I never got a chance to type the rest. I figured half the chapter was better than nothing; at least it solved the cliffhanger. Sort of. Please R&R.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey sorry it took so long to update. I just found the rest of what I wrote. I've been writing a short novel (a novella to use SM's terminology). It's been published. Read the first chapter at .It's called "Love Lost." Here's the link:**

**.?bookid=94807 **

**It is also available on and **

**I hope you like this next chapter. As always I don't own the Host.**

Chapter 20

"It's her host," the Healer explained in a low voice. "I've discovered our host's personality have an influence on our species. I was keeping notes at the hospital on some of the humans I've done insertions on and what type of life the soul has been experiencing. My host, for example, had this great thirst for knowledge and so I am the same."

I was reminded of how some of my personality changed when I switched hosts from Mel's to Pet's. Pet was so much shier and innocent of life's challenges. It made it hard to feel like me for a while. I guess Emily was good at deception, it kept her human for a long time. Unfortunately it also helped the Seeker fool us. Doc performed the separation and we all were glad to know that Emily's brain appeared fine on inspection. Now all we had to do was wait for her to wake up.

Over the next few days I was very wary around everyone. It felt like I had gone back to the days before Jeb's human community trusted me, when I was still thought of as the enemy. Only this time I have an infant to protect too. Nate's cave dwellings didn't have all the accommodations that Jeb's cave had. We had to go up the mountain for drinkable water, which really wasn't that far away. Plant life for food also was on top of the mountain. It was well preserved and well enough off that no souls would think to find anything growing up there.

Emily still hadn't woken up, but we weren't giving up hope. The humans' eyes were constantly being checked and I felt many of those eyes on me as I passed by. I would try to sleep, but couldn't. Ian tried to take over watching Born to allow me some daytime sleep, but that only meant everyone else was awake.

I wondered if Burns was feeling the same pressures of suspicion that I had and went to speak with him during one of his chores.

"Hi Burns," I called with Born facing forward in my arms.

"Hello. Your son is so aware. My host has experience with human infants. He used to babysit in his teen years. It's amazing how different B is."

"Really? My host hasn't any experience with babies so I don't have anything to compare him to, but soul or human, there isn't much he does. Except, of course, EAT, SLEEP, and POOP." That got a rise out of Burns. He laughed as if he were completely carefree. "Burns, the humans here, are they okay with you? I mean you do feel comfortable living amongst them?"

"They occasionally give me looks, but only after a really bad confrontation with other souls — especially seekers. They all relax after a few days and even before then they watch my back. We have nothing to worry about at all. I think this time it feels a bit harsher since the Seeker was in our home, there are new humans, and we have a Healer as a hostage," he explained. "Have you had a chance to visit him?"

"No. I'm afraid he might try something."

"He's harmless. He keeps asking about you and Born, though."

"Maybe I'll visit later."

"Can I hold him?" he referred to B. I hesitated at first, but then I remembered that Burns Living Flowers was like me, a soul that saw things differently. I gently handed B over and Burns cradled him in his long arms. "You are so cute. Do you know that? Adorable." Burn's voice changed as he spoke to the baby. It took on an odd play-like tone. "Who's a cutie? Huh?" he stated as he rocked Born. B began to smile and then a few giggles escaped his tiny mouth. It was extraordinary.

"Hi guys," Melanie greeted unexpectedly behind me. "Hey can I hold him next? I never really got a chance to meet my new nephew. What's his full name, again?"

"Born with a Soul. He has one of my antennae in him so his eyes —"

"Reflect light," she finished with wonderment.

"Yeah, like an insertion with no scars. Only Doc thinks that his is the only consciousness the baby's mind will have."

As she held him she also took on the odd tone as she spoke. It sounded as if they were trying to entertain Born during their conversation.

"Melanie, I know you're . . . you, but the other humans here frighten me. They live with Burns so I don't understand it."

"You know I miss knowing what you're thinking. That naïveness was, at times, frustrating, but also refreshing. Everything I took for granted I felt you experience as new. But I don't miss this feeling — paranoia."

"What's that?"

"You can't trust anybody. You're worried about what's behind every corner. And someone else is relying on your survival. That's how I felt before I met Jared, when it was just me and Jamie."

"I remember some of that. You didn't let me see Jamie so I only have very few of those memories. I guess that's why I didn't recognize it."

"You could trust me, you could trust Ian, Jared, and doc. I think you could even trust Burns. He's like you." She glanced over and smiled at him. Then her voice lowered. "Don't let anyone know I said this, but sometimes you could trust a soul to be just that — a soul. They are mostly kind and good and altruistic."

I smiled. It didn't sound like the usual Mel, but I knew what she meant. When we are souls ourselves — or at least for the others pretending to be — souls were good. I loved understanding Mel's thoughts. It made me feel like I was home.

The idea of trusting another soul seemed reasonable, but in the wake of the recent event as well as the automatic desire to protect Born with a Soul (a human emotion I recognized from when Mel was my host as the mother instinct) made me still hesitate to visit the Healer. I finally did with Ian by my side. Born was with Mel.

"Keep your hands where I could see them, Healer," Ian warned. "Wanda wishes to see you."

"I heard you've been asking about me," I uttered.

"I was wondering when I would get a chance to see you again. It is so fascinating how you side with the humans; even have one as a partner."

"I told you they are not completely without merits. And as you've seen for yourself, we as souls, good and universally kind, are on the offensive."

"Yes. This side of the story I hadn't considered. They are defending themselves," he admitted. Then he added," Violently."

"Well Healer, I think I shall go now."

"Please Wanda, your child, how is he?" Healer Eyes asked.

"He is fine and well cared for. Thank you."

"Does he do anything unusual?"

"I don't know what would be considered unusual, but he is quiet and in good temper. I was told human babies wail a lot, are often impatient and difficult to please."

"Yes, but he isn't a human baby, is he?"

I didn't know what to say. I just stared at Ian.

"If I could observe him, it would quench my thirst."

"No!" Ian immediately responded.

"But think of the possibilities. No need for the injury of insertion. A mere break from an antennae and we would have a new host and soul."

"And how would you go about separating the soul from its host?" Ian questioned. Of course he would ask that. He wanted to know how to free the baby, but it would have no mind of its own.

"It would be no concern of yours," the Healer calmly answered.

"Yes, but it would be to you. How would the soul move on? As Wanda has said, the human host has one of the shortest lifespan of any host species. A soul born within a human host would have no exit. The soul would die with its host.

Ian had a very good point — I was proud. "It wouldn't be possible anyway," I spoke up. "I'm a female."

"Oh," the Healer remarked. "So you are unique in more ways than one." He was beginning to understand. "Please, I won't such your boy." I looked at Ian once again.

"Maybe just today. When the scientists leave we could retrieve another tank for the separation. The knowledge you gain will be useful to your host and us," I said.

"You plan on separating me from my host?"

"Of course," Ian chimed. "You know about this human camp and about B. This knowledge is valuable and as a prisoner you pose a flight risk."

"I've been in this host for several years. I've grown literally attached to him. There is so much more I could use him for to learn about."

"Years? Ian, what if his host won't wake up?" I muse.

"That is not our problem."

"Ian?"

"Don't worry Wanda. The soul will safely be sent off planet. Only the human will die."

"It is the _human_ I am worried about. The one in _you._ You would let one of your own innocently die?"

"To protect my family Wanda, yes. I did it for you and I'd do it for B, as well as the rest of our family in Jeb's cave."

"You saved me from an awful human. I didn't like it but I understood. The Healer's host did nothing wrong. Even as a Healer."

"He has done countless insertions," Ian justified.

"I'm sorry Ian, but I cannot agree to this."

**A/N: How was that? Please R&R.**

**And I would mind if you commented about the first chapter of my book **_**Love Lost.**_** Thanks.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hey everyone! I published a book called **_**Love Lost**_**. Read the first chapter at:**

**Xlibris website**

**It is also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites**

**I hope you like my story. Here goes another chapter.**

Chapter 21 

Healer Eyes's POV:

The Soul Wanda left my holding cave with complete sadness. The Human Ian looked over at me.

"Look what you did!" he said with anger.

I merely shrugged my shoulders and gave an explanation. "Her human host makes her emotional. She has just had a baby." He gave me a look that I could only describe as hatred and left as well.

I needed to figure out what to do, how to get out. My time here was limited and I don't know how much influence the Soul Wanda had. By the way she spoke, it seemed they were on equal footing. I hope she could hold them off.

The Soul Wanda appeared about an hour later with the Soul Burns and her unique baby. There was also a male human that stood by the doorway with a weapon of some kind.

"I thank you for this opportunity to observe your child," I told the Soul Wanda. "It would be very beneficial for my study. Too bad I cannot stay longer."

The two souls glanced at each other, but mainly remained silent. The baby moved around unable to do much with his weak limbs. Only observing him for this one day doesn't appear to be helpful. If only I were able to observe him when he will be older. Unfortunately, I feel this isn't going to happen.

"What are you trying to accomplish by observing B?" the Soul Burns asked.

"I'm not sure there is anything to accomplish besides acquiring knowledge. Since Wanda is a female only she has the ability to split cells. I was wondering about this whole planetary conflict. Babies like Born with a Soul might be a peaceful answer. The beings on this planet might have a better life since babies like Born are birth of host and soul. The natives that are still around will trust the child because it is their own and the Souls will not fear it because the child has a peaceful Soul inside. I see how the Humans here protect Born with a Soul. If only it was possible."

"A breed of itself," the Soul Burns stated thoughtfully.

"It's too bad no one will ever find out about Born. My son is _not _to be revealed as a half-breed to anyone."

"Who will I tell?" I questioned. "I'm going to be sent off planet."

A thoughtful look came to her face. "Right." She was silent once again.

"The idea has merit, but if others like B were possible, it still wouldn't work. Wanda and I trust our humans, but others would care less how a soul got in there, only that one is. And to Souls no scar means no insertion. They will think he is human and the Seekers may attack him. It's not exactly an easier way to dominate this planet," Burns chimed in.

The next day I was told the scientists were clearing the area. It will not be long before they get another cryotank. I do not wish to leave, but I don't have any idea what to do. These humans are very violent and there is so many of them. My only hope is Wanda.

I had another visitor before lunch. It was the Human they refer to as Doc.

"Hello Healer."

"Hello."

"I just wish to ask you where you wish to go."

"Excuse me?"

"Which planet? I'm sure you probably have a preference."

"Sure I do. I wish to stay on this planet."

"Why do all of you Souls give the same answer? Don't you see we love this planet, too?" His voice seemed eager, as if he wanted this conversation over with. I stayed silent. "Look, based on your name, I'm guessing you were a See Weed. Maybe you would like to go back or if you want something different you could be a dolphin? That's a newly discovered planet, isn't it?"

"How do you know?" I asked curious about his knowledge of other planets.

"Wanderer."

"Who?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Wanda. She has been to almost every planet. You'll have to ask her about the details, but she is a great storyteller. She was very informative about lots of things. If not for her we would have probably gouged out your eyes trying to figure out how to get you out of your host. She is the reason you and so many others live."

"So I've heard. Almost every planet you say? Her uniqueness grows."

"Have you chosen a planet, because Wanda will do it for you?"

"I wish to discuss it with her."

An hour after lunch, according to my watch, the Soul Wanda arrived.

"Have you chosen a planet?"

"I heard have firsthand knowledge of many of the planets."

"Yes, but many of them are no longer open for settling. I could suggest one if you wish."

I gave an anxious sigh. "I do not wish to leave. Please Wanderer. You of all Souls know what it is like to become used to a host and then have to leave it. This is only my second, but it is most distressing."

"On the contrary," she spoke apathetically. "I enjoyed my life on each planet, but I had no problem leaving them. It was only here that I found a home. And you, my dear Healer, may ruin it. So please," her eyes began to tear, "just pick one."

I realized she can't help me. "Many of the Souls I inserted came from the Singing Planet. I did wonder what it was like to fly. And the music was described as wonderful like here. Although, I will miss being able to see."

"That's a good choice Healer Eyes. I'll send Doc in to begin."

"You mean it's going to happen now?" The Human called Doc came in holding a white spray container. The Human Ian followed him in with a cryotank. I backed away toward the wall.

"No, I'm not ready to go. Please?" I begged. "I won't say anything."

"It's too late Healer," Ian answered grabbing hold of my arm. "My family is at stake." The next thing I know there is silver mist everywhere and I smell raspberries.

**A/N: Well how did you guys like this chapter? Please R&R.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Did any of you guess this?**

**As always I don't own Host, just my own thoughts.**

Ch22

_"Emily," I looked at Wanda._ _"Don't let her win."_

_"I'm sorry, but there is no more Emily. I'm not as __weak__ as you, Wanda," I said to torment her. "I can handle my host." I noticed the two male Humans moved closer to me._

_"What about Jamie?" the one called Jared said. "Don't you have any feelings for him?" _

_"Feelings?" I questioned. I felt nothing. They had me surrounded. I had to figure a way out. "The 'feelings' you speak of have no influence on my actions. You all need to be neutralized." Jared still came closer. I began to get nervous. _

_"You're wrong, Seeker," the other traitor Soul spoke. "These are good humans. They have families and lives that we Souls are taking away." I felt the weight of them closing in._

_"Family. Like Melanie's Jamie," I said to Jared. "I know from my host's memories how he cares about her. How do you think he will like it if I shred through my host's brain? Now back off!" I raised my voice hoping to scare them. "You live with a Soul. You know I could. Tell them Wanda." It looked like I might have convinced them._

Something doesn't seem right. It's like I'm going through this memory from the wrong point of view.

_"Jamie would rather see Emily dead, than have her memories betray us," Mel explained. "And I'm sure you realize death is your only option." Suddenly they attacked me and I was surrounded by mist._

I opened my eyes. I still had eyes! I looked around slowly. The surroundings were unfamiliar. Before I had a chance to get a good look, the Soul Wanda came into view. _Wait, if she is here than I wasn't sent off planet._

Another familiar face stood beside her, _my own!_

I glanced down at my host's arms and body. I was female.

"Your host woke up," the Soul Wanda said before I had a chance to comment. "But Emily still had not."

"So you gave her to me?"

"She is not yours." Her tone sounded slightly annoyed. "You are going to help us. Rather than let her body die, it was agreed that a soul needed to be placed back into Emily. There was no way Seeker Lengthy Arms was getting a second chance to destroy us, so you were chosen. I told to the others with your need for knowledge you would be willing to search through her mind and perhaps find her."

"But after I find her, you are going to send me away. So why should I help?"

"Because I am asking you to. You should take this opportunity. Think of what you could learn. Dr. Jeffrey, your old host, could go back to the hospital and get your notes."

I looked to my previous host. "You must be glad to be rid of me. I didn't even know you still existed."

"I noticed my colleagues were acting strangely. They were getting along too well. When I was invited to a get together, I knew something was up. I just let it happen. When I awoke to having no control over my body, I stayed quiet and observed. I learned a lot. Thank you."

"This host," I turned toward the Soul Wanda. "She doesn't feel right. I am used to a different mindset, a different orientation. Not only is she a different gender, but she is a child . . . an angry one."

"Good," the she smiled, "so you could sense her."

"I don't like this. I don't feel comfortable."

"You'll be used to the change after a while, like switching species," she explained. "We have taken you to another Human camp. Don't bother trying to use Emily's memories to figure your location, she didn't know it. That's why you were moved here."

"This is most extraordinary! I am face to face with the being that inhabited me," my old host stated excitedly. "Well almost. I learned loads about Soul medicine. It was all so fascinating. Doing all those surgeries and curing all those diseases. My doctorate is in ethnology — it involves the systematic comparison of different cultures. I particularly loved learning how different cultures tried to heal themselves."

"How much time has passed?" I asked.

"Two days. Jeb, the leader of this community, requires that you earn your keep. You will work the fields with me," the Soul Wanda informed me. "The caves around here can get confusing. I'm not sure if Emily was clear on how to get around. She always had an escort."

"Jamie."

"Yes. You will get a chance to meet everyone eventually. I must warn you. Your host body provides no protection. Betray us and they may kill you."

"And these are the ones you are loyal to?" I was appalled.

"Earn their trust and you will understand," she calmly suggested. _Earn their trust?_ I had this strange feeling I was already on negative footing. "It is time for lunch. If you wish, you could join Dr. Jeffrey and me in the kitchen. But we must hurry. There are lots of people here and the food gets cold quickly."

I carefully got up off of some kind of uncomfortable bed and took a few steps. My host's limbs felt tight from lack of movement. I did a couple of stretching motions then headed out the cave to the walkway. I wanted to see if I could access the memories and find my way ahead of them. As soon as a saw the pitch blackness, I called out to the Soul Wanda. She moved in front and verbalized that we should touch the wall as we walked. Each bump and dent was unfamiliar, but the idea of identifying which way to go by touch was not. Memories of different cave rooms popped into my mental vision and how they were associated with each other by certain bumpy walled pathways.

When we got to the kitchen, I saw some familiar faces and some that were only familiar to my host. One in particular caught my eye, another Soul called Sunny. She grasped onto a large human that resembled the Human Ian. Her face instantly declared her fear, but the human whispered into her ear and she relaxed.

The memory suddenly shot through me. I held a knife to her neck. Humans surrounded me. I thought I was doing the right thing. _Not me_. My host. So much violence was done with these hands. I gazed upon them. I was ashamed of them.

"Healer." Someone called me. "Come and get yourself a plate of these vegetables grown from right here in this cave. It's delicious aside from the slight aftertaste. The meat is from the store."

"The store?" I inquired from the Soul Wanda.

"Yes. We all take turns going to get supplies when they are needed."

"You mean robbing and stealing."

"No," she corrected. "We simply walk in, like any Soul could, and ask for what we need. No violence and no one ever knew there were humans present."

"Why is it my host has no memories of such an event?"

"New people don't get the privilege of knowing the location of this cave until the community is sure they are trust worthy enough to not only keep the cave location a secret, but also won't give away that they are human. You weren't the only one unconscious upon arrival, so was Dr. Jeffrey." So I was right, my host _was_ on a negative footing.

**A/N: How was that? I'm not sure. I think it needs some action. What do you think? R&R**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Thanks to all who have been following the story. I hope I am doing well. Please tell me what you think.**

Ch 23

Days passed into weeks and I stuck to the Soul Wanda and her human partner while I worked in the fields. The labor was hard and time consuming. I was glad this host body was used to it. This rebel camp was very productive and I was surprised at how well these humans were able to survive so efficiently. The humans here were at least cordial, though wary of my presence. I learned the names of the large humans — Kyle, Brent, Andy — quickly. They were the ones that usually surrounded me. My host's memories were triggered when something seemed familiar – a cave room or a human I came across. None of those memories brought any emotion. It was as if I were watching a television program or movie.

The only good thing about having a new host was that I was still around to observe Born with a Soul. Every evening I would spend with the child. I shared the overcrowded room –the Soul Wanda wanted to keep an eye on me. He was increasing his muscular control quicker than a normal human infant. He was already able to hold up his head and turn it to the source of a sound. He was able to grab onto objects he desired if they were within reach. He also appeared to understand when someone was talking to him and tried to follow commands to the best of his abilities.

The Soul Wanda constantly went through my host's memories with me to help search for Emily. I had to admit I wasn't trying very hard to actually "pull her to the surface." This was an expression used by the Human Melanie when she was telling me about the time the Soul Wanda inhabited her body. Truthfully even if I wanted to find Emily I hadn't a clue how. Many visitors came to see the baby. The Humans Melanie and Jamie were the most, followed by Jared, Kyle, and the Soul Sunny. They all called the baby their nephew even though Kyle was the only one biologically related.

I was intrigued to discover the Soul Sunny was plagued with the same search as I was. She was trying to locate her host Jodi. Like me she wasn't trying very hard, but unlike me her reason was she desired the Human Kyle. The Human Jamie barely spoke to me. Occasionally he _would_ glance my way. The Soul Wanda explained it to me when we were taking a water break from working in the field. I don't know what she needed a break for the Humans didn't let her do anything.

"He misses Emily," she said. "He is thankful that she isn't dead, but then again she might be."

"What do you mean? I am in her body, so she is right here."

"No. This is why the humans resist. You may be using Emily's brain, but you don't think like her. You have her voice, but your words are different. Even those members of this clan who barely knew her could tell that she is now inhabited by a Soul."

"You wish me to try to fool them?" I was confused. Did she want me to deceive them? But then they will never trust me and I won't ever get out of here.

"No, of course not. You missed my point. Humans are not just high life form vessels to reside in. When we came to this planet, we took away what made the humans who they were. Grant it, we live life on this planet better than they did, but they feel strongly for each other more than we ever did. It's their emotions. If you could feel the way Emily felt, maybe you could find her."

"But I can't. There is no emotion in here." I pointed to my head.

"Maybe it's because it is supposed to be in here." She pointed to where my host's heart was.

"And what if it isn't there either?" I suggested.

"Then maybe we should accept that Emily might really be gone."

Just then the Human Jamie came rushing toward us. He had been listening to our conversation.

"Emily can't be gone," Jamie stated. You said the Seeker was only in there a few days at most. The Healer was in his host for years and he is alive and kicking."

"Emily was fifteen while Dr. Jeffrey was in his forties. He had more time being himself. Plus, Healer Eyes wasn't trying to purposely block him out. The Seeker was."

"I'm sorry, but she is not in here. The Seeker must have been very strong to suppress her so thoroughly. I only have memories of emotions she felt, but I can't feel them. She was always scared — scared for her family, scared for herself. But confident, she thought she could survive alone." I tried to muster up something else. "There was so much deception in her life. First her friends, then her family. Betrayal. It made it difficult for her to trust anyone." Once again the memory of Emily holding a knife to Sunny's throat emerged. Jamie, the one person she finally _did_ trust, claiming he was always a Soul —to get her to release Sunny. She felt completely swindled. "And what Jamie did didn't help." Suddenly a jolt went through me. _Jamie!_ I felt the shocked expression expose itself onto my host's face as the memories of her and Jamie's relationship flooded my host's head. "She really liked him. This is not good," I whispered the Soul Wanda.

"What's not good?" she asked.

"I can actually feel it." I turned to face him. "The ache for him." The Human Jamie took a step back with an odd expression on his face.

"You . . . _or Emily_?" the Soul Wanda clarified.

And that's when I heard her. _"Jamie."_

**A/N: Well? How did you like that? Please R&R. **


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I love them all. I update faster with them.**

_**Don't forget to check out my book on ISBN: **__146287147X _

_**You click on bookstore and put the **__**isbn**__** number to locate it. If you click on the book you could read the first chapter. I hope you like it.**_

**Now back to the Host of Unexpected. Remember I only own my own thoughts, the Host belongs to SM.**

Ch. 24

I couldn't believe I heard her. She was so clear. I just stood there thinking, trying to hear her again.

"Healer?" I saw the Soul Wanda squint at me. I needed to give her an answer.

"I don't know," I sighed. I took the shovel once again and got back to my work.

The Soul Wanda and Human Jamie kept whispering to each other and glancing over at me. I didn't like it. It reminded me of one of my Host's earlier memories – always glancing over her shoulder while in public. One of her Human gang went missing and the rest were looking for him. But she knew. She knew that once you're gone there is no return. He showed up the next day as if he merely went out for a stroll and that's how it started. One at a time another one of our group would disappear and then reappear. She couldn't trust anyone — not even her gang of survivors. They hadn't survived.

"I need the bathroom," I called over to the Soul Wanda. I needed to get away from their eyes.

They glanced over at me. "I can take her," the Human Jamie volunteered.

"No. If it is okay, I'd like to go alone."

They looked again at each other. I surveyed around me. The Humans were talking and working. But I somehow knew their words were about me. They were plotting.

"I'm sorry Healer, but you can't go alone. The cave room with the rivers is unstable. The earthquake here loosened a lot of the flooring. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"_Yeah right."_ I gave a startle at her voice. _"The floors have always been unstable. It's just a ruse. They don't want you to be alone. They think you will try to escape, but there's no way out of this maze."_

"Come on Healer," the Human Jamie encouraged. "If you really have to go."

As we walked in uncomfortable silence, I stumbled a few times.

"_Gees, can't you be careful?"_

"Sorry," I said aloud.

"Sorry for what?" the Human Jamie asked.

"Falling," I answered honestly.

"You don't need to apologize to me."

"_She wasn't," _my Host commented in my head. _"Or are you an _It_?"_ she asked me.

We continued to walk and did a few turns until we got to the River room.

"You're very quiet," the Human Jamie uttered. "Emily and I used to talk for hours."

"Yeah, I can recall those memories." I walked to the place where I could have a little privacy.

"_He wants you to trust him, to let your guard down. He's the worst out of all of them. He looks all sweet and innocent with his cute face and almost muscular body, but he'll get you. You won't even see it coming."_

"_He's not like that," _I thought back to her._ "You know he was just trying to save Sunny. She's a Soul, she wouldn't hurt anyone."_

"_She could bring more of you and take us all over."_

"_But Jamie is not a Soul."_

"_He's a Soul Lover. That's just as bad. They are all Soul Lovers. And they know I'm not. They will get you to get to me. That's why they put you in here — to find me. They want me out of commission. They brought me back here to kill me and you're going to die in the process."_

"That's not true!" I hollered out loud. I was upset. Everything I knew about Souls stated otherwise and it was a Soul – the Soul Wanda- that had them put me in here. They needed me to prevent this Human from dying. This Host Emily was truly beyond logic.

"Healer? Are you ok?" I heard the Human Jamie ask from a little a ways. "Are you speaking to someone?"

"_Go ahead tell him I'm here. See how he reacts. He'll probably go at my throat – well, your throat," _my Host suggested.

"No," I called out with a slight edge to my tone. "I was just reacting to one of Emily's memories."

"Oh. Pretty terrible, aren't they?" He came to where I stood. "She told me about her time living outside. I remember what it was like. If I didn't have Melanie, I don't know where I would be. I would probably have a Soul inside my head, too. Not that all Souls are bad. Wanda's pretty great."

"I agree."

"_Soul Lover,"_ she chimed in my head.

I ignored her. "She truly sees a life where there shouldn't be. And the baby is remarkable."

"Went to visit Born with Sharon earlier today and I heard him speak."

"Really! What did he say?" I was excited. This baby was only a month old.

"Mama, of course. Sharon was all freaked out. I told her it was because of her wonderful teaching skills and she kicked me out of the room."

"So Born could speak. This is amazing."

"Well, it was more of a babble 'mama.' You know like 'ma ma ma.' But still, he should be babbling."

"_Great! Now everyone's going to want a Soul baby."_

I gave a heavy sigh. _"Stop your cynicism. Born is an amazing creature."_

"_Creature — exactly."_

"I know that look," the Human Jamie said. "You're talking to her."

No," I reflected. "I was just thinking about what kind of—"

"_Creature,"_ my Host thought.

"_Person_ he'll be. Having one parent Human and the other a Soul."

"You don't worry about that. Life is just fine down here," he declared. "It's about time for dinner. Come on."

We got to the kitchen in twice the time it would normally take. I was walking very carefully paying special attention so not to trip and to distract me from any words my Host spoke. I knew Jamie was a Human that cared about my Host based on her memories, but I couldn't be rid of the suspicion that Emily filled me with. I went directly to the Soul Wanda and her baby's table. She was feeding him a bottle. In front of her was a plate with fish on it.

"_Filet of Sole,"_ my Host informed me. _"They are feasting on you."_

"_I thought you said they are Soul Lovers."_

"_They are. They love you guys so much they are eating you."_

"_It's just fish."_

"_Are you absolutely sure? It kind of looks a little like fried alien to me."_

"Stop it!" I yelled. That was really unusual for me to raise my voice.

"Stop what?" the Human Ian asked.

"Nothing." The group at the table looked at one another. "The sound of the bottle squeaking, it was a little annoying," I added.

"Annoying? You felt annoyed?" the Human Melanie questioned.

"_They are onto you," _my Host Emily worded silently in a threatening voice.

"I'm going to get myself a plate," I quickly answered.

As I got up, the Humans began discussing something while the Soul Wanda just stared. I kept my head straight, but placed my eyes to the ground. Once I wasn't facing the table any longer I looked around the kitchen area. Many Humans were talking amongst themselves.

"_They are talking about you. They know I'm here. They are going to destroy you to get to me."_

"_No, nobody knows. If you keep quiet, I won't look strange. They will leave me alone."_

"_They won't ever leave you alone. They want me. Look at how Kyle and Sunny stare. They know I'm talking to you. They see you talking to me."_

"_Then stop talking."_

I took a plate, filled it with food, and sat down on the side alone. I tried to eat as quickly as possible, before people will notice me. When I was done, I went to my cave room.

"_They saw you alone. The Humans are regrouping and forming a plan to get you to confess about me."_

"_Stop it. I'm not listening." _I put my hands to my ears.

"_That isn't going to work. I'm in here and they are coming."_

The Soul Wanda walking through the doorway. "There you are. I was looking for you."

"_You see. Even Wanda is on their side."_

"What happened? You were acting strangely. Is everything all right?"

"_She knows. They are coming we must run."_

"Stop it!" I yelled.

"What?" the Soul Wanda questioned.

I turned to her huffing. "You have to help me."

"_What do you think you are doing?"_

"What is it Healer?" She sounded worried.

I paused a second. "I need to get out of here to a place I could be safe. I don't want them to get me."

"Who?" She really sounded confused.

"The Humans. I know, as you are a Soul, you understand and won't hurt me. But the Humans, they didn't like Emily."

"That's not true. We all cared about her."

"_She's lying."_

"_But Wanda can't lie."_

"Please Wanda," I begged again. "I hear the whispers. I know you are telling the truth, but . . . she can't be convinced."

"She?"

I began to whisper. "She won't stop talking."

"Who? Emily?"

"_Now you've done it. We're doomed."_

"Yes. She makes me worry all the time. I constantly need to look behind my back." I grabbed hold of her shirt collar. "I need to get out," I uttered with panic.

She held onto my wrists. "You can't leave. I'm sorry." Her eyes were gentle, but her words angered me. Angered Emily.

"I don't want to do this," I said firmly.

"Do what?" she looked worried.

"Hurt you."

Her face dropped a shade in color. She gulped and said, "I know what it's like. The constant voice in your head, it feels like your being attacked from the inside. But Healer, you are the one in control. Not her."

"_You see, she _is_ against me. Make her tell you how to get out."_

Tears flowed down my cheeks. It felt like I had no control. "I just want out Wanda. Outside among the Souls, I know they won't hurt me. You're a Soul; can't you do something to help me?"

She shook her head. "It's live here or be sent off planet. Those are the choices."

"_You have to hurt her. It is the only way. The Humans will know you are serious and let you go."_

My hands shook. I let go of her and fell to the ground. "Fine, send me away. Leave me in a cryotank for a thousand years. I don't care. Just take me out of Emily." I didn't want to be a skipper, but I couldn't handle it any longer.

"_What? No!"_

"Please Wanda. She's driving me crazy."

The Soul Wanda grasped my hand gently. "Come on. I'll take you to Doc."

"_No! They are going to dissect you. They are going to cut me into little pieces."_

"_I don't care. I'm going to be safe and I don't have to feel this way again."_

As I stood, my feet suddenly jolted straight. They wouldn't budge.

"What is it Healer?" the Soul Wanda asked. She turned to face me.

"I can't move," I cried.

"_You don't really think I'm just going to let you," _my Host Emily warned.

**A/N: How was that? I know this chapter was longer than the others. I just could stop writing! Please review I tend to update quicker. I apologize for any grammar errors or short hand mistakes.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: One review posed a question and so I just want to clarify it. Just because Emily was able to take control of the body doesn't mean she is stronger than Mel, it just means Wanda is stronger than the Healer. Wanda had Mel in her head for months before listening to her as **_**a friend**_**. The Healer had Emily in his head for merely a day and he gave in to an escape out of the body. Even Wanda wasn't willing to do that until she felt she **_**loved**_** Mel. If you need further proof, the Seeker was able to suppress Emily immediately.**

Ch 25

The Soul Wanda stopped and turned to me. "What's the matter?"

"I can't move!" I exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"She won't let me."

"_Tell her I don't want to be removed. I'm safe in here when we will be outside. I'm the one in control,"_ my host claimed.

"_No."_

"_Tell her!"_

"She said she likes being in my head. She said she is safe. Wanda you have to help. She is taking control of me. I need my head to be my own. No other Soul complained about this to me. I don't think I can handle it," I pleaded.

"_Don't tell her that! You are weak and pathetic. This body was mine first — _is_ mine."_

With that my host took control. She made a run for it through the tunnels. The Soul Wanda ran too, but a different way. She wasn't pursuing. We ran till the main garden and then my host Emily paused.

"_Which way?" _she asked me.

"_I don't know. I know what you know and you know what I do."_

"_Where do you think Wanda went?"_

"_She's a Soul. We are peaceful – usually. If I was her, I would be calling the Seekers. But I don't think that is possible down here, so what would be the next best thing?"_

She took off and head for the river room.

As we heard the sounds of water flowing she began to think speak again.

"_There has to be a way out of here. If the water can get out, so can we." _She walked over to the edge of the cliff. The floor made a crumbling sound and the feeling of panic overcame me. I took control of my host's torso and leaned it back so that we feel backward to the ground.

"_Are you nuts? Don't you remember that water is hot? I don't want to die," _I informed her.

"It's just a little scalding!" she yelled out loud as she stood again. "You're a Healer. You will just heal me when we get to the hospital."

"I don't think so," a voice said from behind the steam.

The human that went with the voice walked into view. "Ah Melanie, I congratulate you on your ability to overcome your parasite. I, too, have your ability."

"Emily?" the Human Melanie asked. "What happened to the Healer?"

"Oh it's still in here."

"Emily, what are you trying to do? You can't leave. The Healer will use you to tell the Seekers about us."

"Don't worry. I'm the one in control."

I stretched my tentacles for a tighter grip. _"Not if I could help it." _

I took control of her voice box. "She's crazy. You got to get me out of her. Please. Set me free."

"Jared, Jamie! Do it now!" the Human Melanie screamed. Suddenly, silver mist was engulfing me from both sides.

**Fade to black**

Jamie's POV

I felt so bad attacking her like that. "She was Emily," I whispered. She was really messed up. "I guess her wounds ran deeper than even _I _knew."

Wanda came through the steam from her hiding place. "We need to help the Healer. It must have been awful for him losing control like that."

"I'm sorry Wanda," Mel uttered.

"For what?" Wanda smiled.

"For anytime I made you do something you didn't want to do, or feel something you shouldn't have felt."

Wanda's smile broadened. "You don't need to apologize to me. Better off giving it to Jared."

"She has. Repeatedly," Jared stated and winked. Ew! I was starting to get pictures. It didn't used to bother me. Mel and Jared together was always a comfort. Like when a young child has both their parents caring for them. But now things are different, I'm older and …well, not much of a child anymore.

"And for the feelings I felt, it helped me feel more like part of this community," Wanda finished.

Jared lifted Emily with little effort to the hospital wing where Doc and Wanda preformed the separation.

"What's going to happen to Emily?" I voiced.

"We don't know," Doc answered. "She may wake up now that she was in use of her body."

"Yeah, but what's going to happen?" I repeated with a slight edge.

"She's dangerous. That's for sure," Jared injected.

"We can't even send her out. She might get captured again. What if she retained the location of Nate's cave hideaway? We'll be risking all of their lives."

"Well, something's got to be done," Doc announced. I just sat there listening to what the fate of my ex girlfriend will be. I no longer felt the need to protect her. She does fine by herself. I didn't even know what Emily was really like. She may have shown me a piece, but now I can see she was a real puzzle.

**A/N: How was that chapter? It was slightly shorter. Let me know what you guys think. R&R.**


	26. Chapter 26 Part 3: Una Nueva Amiga

**A/N: Hey! Thank you to all the people who are following the story. And to ****sweetlilsunshine** **who reviews each time but has PM disabled, a special thanks.**

**Some of the dialogue in this chapter is in Spanish. It is ok if you don't understand, neither did Jamie. I used a translator feature on the web, so I'm sorry if I wrote anything incorrectly. The translation for what was said will be in my A/N in the end of the chapter.**

**I do not own **_**The Host**_**, just my thoughts.**

Ch 26

A week later it all seemed safe in the caves. The rest of the people were able to relax, because there no longer was an unknown and possibly not trustable Soul roaming around. As for what was really going on with Healer Eyes/Emily, no one knows for sure. According to Wanda, the Healer was well adjusted until that day when it appeared Emily began talking inside the Healer's head, and then voiced a paranoia fueled by Emily. I don't know what I think of Emily anymore.

Jared was almost certain a Tribunal was going to be held to decide her fate only she never woke up. Doc has been moving her body around to keep the joints from stiffening up and a makeshift IV had been set up to keep her hydrated.

Wanda, Ian, Candy, and Lacy went for a day raid to see if they could get something Candy called _Nutrition_. According to Lacy, it is a Soul medicine that was used on Mel while she was healing after her failed suicide attempt before they placed Wanda in her. If _Nutrition _can be given to Emily, it will give her more time to wake up before her body deteriorates.

Jared opted to stay behind in case she woke up and Mel refuses to go on a raid without Jared. She is doing chores and gave me the honor of babysitting Born.

I don't really know what to do with him. I keep showing him around and talking to him. He does try to talk back, lots of babbling.

Once the four come back there will be a group assigned to go send the Healer off planet. I'm definitely going. I don't want to be babysitting again. Don't get me wrong, I love my nephew, but when is he going to be more fun to play with?

"So ya all know what ya jobs are?" Jeb asked.

"Sure," we all answered and headed out of the cave for our mission. Wanda and Ian stayed behind this time. It was supposed to be a supply run as well and the two insisted they couldn't be away from their baby for longer than a day. The group consisted of Kyle, Sunny, Jared, Mel, and me. Each person was chosen for a reason. Sunny was chosen, because we needed a Soul to be the front person. We all practice acting like a Soul, but nothing compares with the real deal. Mel and Jared because they have experience with this and Kyle, so Sunny won't freak out. He is also an extra pair of strong hands. Me, you already know _my_ reason and someone needs to stay in the van.

When we got to the hospital by the Mexican border, we drove around to the back where the cryotank could be deposited undetected and an empty one could be taken to replace it (it is always good to have a set supply), and to get more medical supplies and medicines.

There was a guy back there so Sunny went to talk to him and got him to follow her to the front. Kyle followed closely behind her, just in case. Mel and Jared went into the back of the hospital back door to do the job. I was left alone in the hot van.

"This is boring," I claimed to the air. I got out, because I would need the engine on to run the air conditioner and that would make too much noise. I placed my sunglasses on not to hide my Human status (the _Vision_ took care of that), but to protect my eyes from the sun's rays.

"_¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?"_ a Latin girl asked from behind me. I jumped, but composed myself.

"What? I don't understand."

"_¿Por qué no se utiliza el traductor?" _she asked and pointed to her ear.

"I'm sorry," I said louder, hoping my volume would clue her into the language barrier. "I don't speak Spanish."

Her face seemed to change as my lack of the foreign tongue occurred to her.

"_Eres un ser Humano,"_ she whispered.

"_No comprendo,__"_ I uttered hoping that was actual Spanish.

She started backing away slowly.

_Oh oh I think she did 'comprendo.'_ She must have understood I'm Human somehow.

I took a step toward her and she turned to run. I was too quick and grabbed at her wrist. Next thing I know she flipped me onto my back. "Ugh!"

_Wait a minute, maybe she's Human._ There was no way a Soul could have done that. I grabbed her ankle as she tried to flee again and she tumbled to the ground. I climbed on top of her pinning her down.

"_iVamos a ir! Que nos va a escuchar. No quiero que usted o yo a quedar atrapados,"_ she yell whispered.

At that moment, Mel and Jared came back out of the hospital with their arms full of supplies. Jared dropped his and helped me contain her. Melanie sprayed the new _Sleep_ container at the girl's face.

"What happened?" Jared asked.

"I think she's Human," I informed him.

"You _think_?" he pulled out his flashlight from his pocket. Melanie carefully opened the girl's eye and the light reflected.

"Nope. Soul," she claimed.

"But she flipped me. You don't suppose she is wearing a pair of _Visions_, do you?"

**A/N: How was that? Please review.**

_**¿Qué estás haciendo aquí? — **_**What are you doing back here? **

_**¿Por qué no se utiliza el traductor?**_** — Why are you not using your translator? **

_**Eres un ser Humano**__** — **_**You're Human**

_**No comprendo — **_**I do not understand**

_**iVamos a ir! Que nos va a escuchar. No quiero que usted o yo a quedar atrapados — **_**Let go! They will hear us. I do not want you or I to get caught**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Hey again! I got so into the story I wrote out a few chapters. Now if I could only type them…**

**Some of the dialogue again is in Spanish. I used a translator feature on the web, so I'm sorry if I wrote anything incorrectly. The translation for what was said will be in my A/N in the end of the chapter.**

**I do not own **_**The Host**_**, just my thoughts.**

Ch 27

Kyle and Sunny came back shortly after, to find us bewildered on what to do.

"I don't suppose you want to do 'Rock Paper Scissors' on who pulls on her eyeball," I said.

"Oh, I'll do it," Mel decided. She moved the girl's head straight and something fell out of her ear.

"Wait," Sunny spoke up. "I know what that is. It's a translator. Souls receive them when they settled on country borders. It is a standard issue. That guy was wearing one too. He thought I was Human until I proved I was a Soul. I told him I was just visiting. He explained it to me. It works with an implant in the host's ear. If she has one, she must be a Soul. There is no way a Human could use it.

"But she flipped me," I mentioned again.

"Maybe her host knows Karate or something," Kyle mused.

"No," Mel said. "It wouldn't matter. I know how to defend myself, but Wanda still couldn't lift a finger against you when you attacked."

Jared and I stared at Kyle with disgust. "I know you tried to hurt Wanda," I said.

"What? I apologized."

"My point is," Mel refocused us, "she wouldn't have been able to flip Jamie no matter what."

"You think she's a freed Human like you, Melanie," Jared wondered.

"Possibly." Mel turned the unconscious girl's head to view the insertion scar. "Only way to find out is to ask her."

We took her into the van and tied her hands behind her back. We drove off with our medicinal supplies to a different location to continue our supply run. We still needed food and household products for the caves. At each stop someone stayed with her with a container of _Sleep_, while the others went into the stores. When it was my turn, I just stared at her hoping she wouldn't wake. She couldn't be more than 18 and she was my height. Her mocha skin was smooth stretched over her slightly flattened nose hidden by her black glossy hair.

Night loomed and we knew that the _Sleep_ was about to wear off. Jared carried her quickly into our motel room for questioning.

The men held her up as Sunny sprayed the _Awake._ She roused immediately.

"_¿Dónde estoy?" _she panted. _"__¿Qué vas a hacer conmigo?"_

"We are not going to hurt you," Sunny said slowly and gently as only a Soul can. "We don't have translators."

"You need to let go," she said. "I did nothing."

"You speak English?"

"A little."

"We are all friends. I'm a Soul," Sunny said.

"And you may have figured out I'm Human," I continued.

"What are you?" Sunny asked.

The girl looked at each of us carefully.

"_Amigos," _Mel said and I hugged Sunny.

"_No entiendo. _I am not clear on the game," the girl said confused. "You are not Seekers and one is Human?"

"Actually only one is a Soul, the rest of us are Human," I corrected.

"Jamie," Kyle said slightly annoyed.

"She has to be Human. She flipped me," I declared to him.

"_Lo siento. _You are wrong. _Yo soy un Alma. _I am a Soul."

**A/N: How was that? I know this chapter was shorter than the others. I think they will be about this size from now on. Please review.**

_**¿Dónde estoy? — **_**Where am I?**

_**¿Qué vas a hacer conmigo?**_** — What are you going to do with me?**

_**Amigos**_** — Friends**

_**No entiendo — **_**I do not understand**

_**Lo siento —**_** Sorry**

_**Yo soy un Alma - **_**I am a Soul**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: I'm a little saddened. I used to get so many more reviews. Oh well, I'm still thankful to my regulars. You guys rock!**

**Here's another chapter. Once again, some dialogue is in Spanish. The translations will be in the A/N at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!**

Ch 28

We all were pretty shocked. We seemed to be collecting soul hostages as quickly as we were rid of them. We took the soul and put her in the bathroom alone, with her hands still bound behind her back. Then we began our hushed speculation.

"What are we going to do with her?" Kyle whispered.

"Maybe we should just let her go," Sunny suggested.

"No way. She knows we have a soul playing for our team, Kyle stated. "She could tell the Seekers."

"We could take her to the caves. Do a separation. I'm sure Doc would love to see how that implant works," Jared pondered.

My anger burned with the spirit of Wanda. "She's not something to experiment on," I claimed.

"Yeah, Jared. What's wrong with you?" my sister backed me up.

"Shh!" he hushed us. "Not experiment. Just take a look at the implant and translator. The soul will be safe in the cryotank."

"I still think we should let her go. It's very frightening to be surrounded by so many humans, even when we shouldn't need to fear. Sometimes it just can't be helped," Sunny admitted.

"Oh Sunny, you have nothing to fear." Kyle gave her a hug. "Unless she tells the other souls nothing you."

"We should bring her to the caves. Even if it is only to separate the soul out from the human," Melanie declared.

We all agreed, even Sunny, though she was sad nothing it. Kyle went to the bathroom and took the soul out.

"So what is your name?" he asked. She kept her head down and tightened her lips. "Your name?" he questioned roughly.

"Kyle," Sunny rebuked kindly. "Maybe she doesn't understand."

"What do they call you?" Mel asked.

Still the soul refused to answer.

"Ok. You'll just be called 'Soul.' We don't really need to know," Jared explained.

I looked around for the time. It was very late and my stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry. Mel maybe we should take some stuff out to eat dinner."

"That's a good idea Jamie," she answered.

"Are you hungry?" I asked the soul. She just turned her face away from me.

We ate heartily and I could hear the soul's stomach rumble in the background. When we were finished, Sunny took a sandwich on a plate and placed it in front of her. She looked at Sunny and stood up. Sunny backed away quickly, but the soul just bent over to pull her arms under her feet. Now her arms were bound in front. She sat down again and took the sandwich with both hands to her mouth.

"You must think I'm a traitor," Sunny uttered. "But I'm not." She looked at Kyle. "I can't betray my love." She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. Sunny really turned Kyle into a big softy.

After dinner, we all went to sleep. Jared sprayed the soul with more _Sleep_. He didn't think she would have slept at all without it since she already slept the day away under its influence.

In the morning, I woke up to find the soul gnawing desperately at her ropes.

"What are you doing?" I claimed. I pulled her arms away from her mouth, leaving my hand on the rope.

"_Yo no voy a dejar que experimento en mí. No sé qué magia que hizo para que el Alma, pero me gusta mi libre albedrío," _she yelled.

I had no idea what she said. "Jared, Kyle. The soul is trying to escape."

They quickly roused awake along with the girls. Kyle pulled the soul's elbows back so her hands were tight against her stomach.

"I think we better head back," Mel suggested.

We all started gathering anything we left around and went into the van. Mel took out the _Sleep_ to mist our captive again.

"_Por favor, no me puso a dormir otra vez. He tenido suficientes horas de sueño para que me dure una semana," _the soul said shaking her head.

"She doesn't want to be sprayed," Sunny recognized.

"She needs to be or she will know where the hideaway is," Jared explained.

"Sorry," Mel said as the mist engulfed the soul's face. The girl slumped over in slumber.

We didn't do much talking on the way back. I kept looking at the soul. She reminded me so much of Melanie. She looked trim and fit. It was my fault this poor girl was tied up. If I had just let her leave instead of going after her, she would never have known about the others. She could have told the Seekers nothing me but they would never find us, is far away and well hidden.

**A/N: So what do you think? Was it a good chapter?**

**Please let me know,**

**By clicking below.**

_**Yo no voy a dejar que experimento en mí. No sé qué magia que hizo para que el Alma, pero me gusta mi libre albedrío. — **__**I am not going to let you experiment on me. I do not know what magic you did to that Soul, but I like my free will.**_

_**Por favor, no me puso a dormir otra vez. He tenido suficientes horas de sueño para que me dure una semana. — Please do not put me to sleep again. I have had enough sleep to last me a week.**_


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Here's another chapter. I hope it does the story justice. There is no Spanish this time, but don't worry, the next chapter will have plenty.**

**I don't own the Host.**

Chapter 29

We made it back to the caves by morning. Kyle and Jared carried the soul in. The rest of us brought in the supplies. The hostage was taken to the hospital wing and put on one of the cots.

Word spread quickly about her and soon there was opinions formed on what should be done. Jared was explaining to Doc about the translator when I walked in.

"It is such a clever idea and you say there is an implant in the ear that this piece works with," Doc voiced.

"That's what Sunny was told."

"Amazing. She understood what you were saying?"

"Looked like it, but she stopped responding after she admitted she was a soul."

"Do you think it is set for a particular language or it is universal?" Doc asked. Jared shrugged.

"If it is soul technology, it is probably universal," Wanda answered for him as she walked in." It would be pointless to have only translated one language when a border may carry two or more. Then there are countries on this planet that have different dialects also. She looked at the soul on the cot and sighed with sad eyes. "Where are we sending her?"

"Wanda?" I whispered. "Does it have to be now? She is young and may not wake up. I was curious about something and I wanted to ask her. It is my fault she is here, I should have let her leave, but I thought she was human."

"I'm in no hurry," Doc spoke. "It would be helpful if I saw the translator in action."

"It is fine with me," Wanda agreed. "Don't scare her."

"Come on Wanda. You know me. When have I been scary?"

An hour or so later, the hospital wing was empty except for me and the two unconscious girls. I looked at Emily moving her hair out of her eyes. She has been unconscious for a long time, maybe the Healer was faking that she spoke.

"Emily," I whispered in her ear. "Are you there? Come on wake up." I felt really silly.

I walked over to the soul and moved a strand of her hair caught between her lips when she jolted awake as if electrocuted. Her eyes looked about quickly and she took deep heaves of breaths.

"We are alone. I won't hurt you," I explained. She sat up. Her eyes went straight to the white containers on the table.

"As long as you don't hurt me, I won't put you to sleep again."

She started gnawing on her ropes around her wrists. "I could help with that. There is nowhere to run by the way. This place is like a maze with no exit and it is pitch black in most areas even during daylight." I pulled out my knife concealed in my shoe and she released a surprised gasp.

"Just hold still," I told her. I tried to carefully cut away at the rope, but I nicked her skin a few times. "Sorry." She just gave a small sigh of pain each time, but held still until the rope was off. I went over to the table and collected the _Clean, Heal, Seal_ and _Smooth_ for her wrists. She looked amazed as I repaired her injuries. "They're good as new. Are you in any pain? We have something for that, too." She just shook her head slowly then looked over at Emily.

"She's human. In some kind of coma, I think. This is our hospital wing. She pointed to the white containers. "We tried the _Awake_, it doesn't work." I pointed to my head. "There is nobody home." The soul smiled. "What's your name?" I asked. Her mouth turned down. She lay back down and turned her body away.

"Well Jamie, I see she's awake," Jeb called out walking in. "It's time for lunch. Ya could take her, but I 'magine she won't take to the attention so soon." I nodded.

I headed to the kitchen quickly to get food for the soul along with myself.

"Jamie!" Melanie and Wanda called together. Born was whimpering. His bottle slipped out of his mouth. I walked over to them.

"She woke up. I'm bringing her something to eat. She's not talking though."

"This place is terrifying as a prisoner," Wanda claimed.

"Yeah. I remember you used to think someone was going to jump out at you in the darkness," Mel added. "You keep at her, Jamie. You got Wanda talking."

"I wanted to talk to him. He and Jared were the reasons we came," Wanda stated.

"Hey!" Ian proclaimed beside her.

"Oh, but Ian, you are the reason I stayed." She planted a kiss on his smiling lips.

Born gave another whimper. "Okay," she turned to her baby and placed the bottle in his mouth once more. "Your son is as demanding as you are," she suggested to Ian.

"That's my boy," he grinned patting him on the head. "You keep them on their toes." Wanda lightly gasped. I just chuckled.

I took some lasagna and headed back to the hospital. Doc caught up to me. "Did I hear that right? The soul is awake?"

"Yes," I answered.

We hurried to through the southern tunnels to where Jeb stood quietly leaning on the wall. The soul was facing away from him.

"Not a word," he simply said.

Doc went over to the soul and began checking her like a normal check-up, stating what he was doing as he did it. He took a light and flashed it into her eyes. The light reflected back and Doc squinted. "I keep forgetting that," he chortled. "She seems in perfect health." He looked directly at her face. "Do you understand me? That thing in your ear," he pointed, "how does it work?"

She bit down on her lips and looked down. The gesture was not unlike Wanda was when she first came.

"She might be hungry," I said. I gave her her portion and I began eating mine. After waiting a minute or so, she took a spoonful to her mouth, too.

**A/N: So not that much happens, but it moves the story along. Please review anyway. Thanks.**

**As always, it is**

**Great2read**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: I could hardly stand not typing this chapter. I actually typed it before the previous one.**

**The translation for what was said will be in my A/N in the end of the chapter. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**

**To let me know, just click below.**

**Of course I don't own the Host, just my own thoughts.**

Ch 30

The next day I went to see the soul after class. I brought lunch to her again, chicken fingers.

"Still no words?"

"Nope," Doc said. "I'm going to get lunch with Sharon. You think you will be fine here?"

"No problem."

We ate in mutual silence. Once she finished, she looked up at me. "They call you, Jamie . . . right?" she whispered unexpectedly. I turned to her.

"Yes. What's your name?" I asked, hoping this time I might get an answer.

"_Sopla la arena con el viento,"_ she said.

"I don't think I can remember that," I chortled. "What does it mean?"

"Sand blows with the wind."

"How do you say 'sand'?"

"_Arena."_

"Arena. That's kind of pretty," I smiled.

Wanda walked in holding born with her.

"Hello have you seen Doc? I think it is time for B's monthly check-up," she stated.

"He said he was going to get lunch," I told her.

"I was just in the kitchen." She sighed and turned. The lights hit her eyes reflecting right out and I heard a small gasp come from Arena. "He has to be down here somewhere."

"You're a soul," Arena said surprised.

Wanda turned back to her. "Yes."

"You are not a prisoner?" Wanda shook her head. "Where is the other one?"

"Sunny? She is around here somewhere," Wanda said gently.

"Probably with Kyle," I added.

"I'm Wanda. This is my son Born."

The soul looked at me smiled then faced wand again. "I am Arena. Why are you down here?"

"The humans feel more comfortable living where they don't worry about being caught by Seekers," Wanda answered.

Arena nodded. "_¿Pero por qué es usted?" she paused then said,_ "Why do _you_ want to live in a cave?"

"Maybe because living down here with my humans is better than living up there without them."

"_¿Sus seres humanos? _Your humans?"

"My partner, my baby, Jamie," she gestured to me. "Up there they will be—"

"_Borrado," _Arena quickly injected. We looked at her confused. "Erased," she said softly.

"Yeah," Wanda agreed. Arena nodded. "I'm going to find doc." She headed toward the hall then turned. "There is actually a pretty good thriving community down here. Maybe Jamie could show you around." Arena agreed and we headed out.

She was surprised at how dark the corridors were during the day. I held her hand to prevent her from tripping. She only had been out once before with doc at night to go to the bathroom and they had a flashlight.

When we got to the game room, I opened one of the blue lamps. I decided to ask her the question that had been plaguing me.

"Arena I was wondering," I began, but then I chickened out. I asked her a different one. "You know a lot more than a little English."

"The translator helps. If I don't know the word, I could whisper it or just plain say it and the translator allows me to hear it in English. It automatically will translate my host's native language, Spanish, to the language I mostly hear around me. Then I repeat it," she explained.

"That is really clever. Arena?"

"Hmm."

I figured I should get it over with. "How were you able to flip me like that?"

"It is a trick of the twisting." She mimed the maneuver with her hands.

"No I mean, you are a soul. I've met a lot of souls. The only ones that ever hurt anyone were the . . ." My jaw dropped. "Omigosh! You're a Seeker!" I began to back away from her. A Seeker within our own cave and I just showed her around.

"No!" She grabbed me and covered my mouth with her hand. I struggled, but she was strong like Melanie. "I am not. Not anymore," she tried to calm me. "Now, I will let go. _No te asustes_, do not panic. My name explains." She released me. "How much do you know about souls?"

"Quite a lot actually," I said proudly.

"Do you know about Soul Mothers?"

"Yeah."

"Well this is my first planet. My mother made the choice right by the time this planet was discovered. She was a Seeker on her planet. Since this planet needed Seekers to help colonize, I took the position. I figured it was my calling since I had knowledge from my mother's memories," she whispered. "There was a nasty battle I was in with another Seeker against some rebel humans on the Mexican side of the border. It took longer to colonize there than it did in this country. The other Seeker was killed and I was left for dead with a wound in my arm that severed my artery. I was able to cover the wound as best I could and I crawled to a road just when a young human drove by. She applied a tourniquet **[A tourniquet is a device (as a band of rubber) that checks bleeding or blood flow by compressing blood vessels] **to my arm to stop the bleeding and took me to the hospital. She did not know that souls had control there. My host's body was damaged beyond repair. So to _reward_ the girl for saving me, they place me in _her_." She took a breath and a tear escaped her eye. "She is gone and I have to live with the guilt."

"I am so sorry," I sympathized.

"This is what we do. We erase people, the good with the bad. My beliefs crumbled like sand and the wind blew it away. So I took that name."

The sound of people coming broke our poignant atmosphere.

"Do not tell anyone I was a Seeker. I mean no one harm and it would only frighten them," she whispered.

"I'm sorry Arena, but secrets aren't good. I trusted someone I shouldn't have and people I care about almost got hurt."

She nodded in understanding. _"Yo entiendo. _It is okay. Do what you think is necessary," she stated solemnly.

**A/N: OMG do you think he should say anything? Send me reviews and give me suggestions.**

**As always, it is**

**great2read**

_**Sopla la arena con el viento -**_** Sand blows with the wind**

_**Arena**_** – Sand**

_**¿Pero por qué es usted? **_**- But why are you?**

_**¿Sus seres humanos?**_**-****Your humans?**

_**Borrado -**_**Erased**

_**No te asustes**_** -**** Do not panic**

_**Yo entiendo**_** - I understand**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I was busy typing my other fanfics. You should check them out.**

**Here's another chapter. The translation is in my A/N after the chapter. I will be doing less of the Spanish because Arena has the translator and no one would understand her otherwise. Enjoy. **

**I don't own the host. It belongs to SM.**

Chapter 31

"Hey you two," Ian cheerfully entered with a small crowd of men and women. I decided to hold off on her Seeker status for now. "We thought we would play a round of soccer. Do you want to join?"

I looked at Arena. She appeared confused. "Do you know soccer? We have this ball and there are 2 teams. The teams kick the ball across the cave and need to get it into the goal guarded by the other team."

"I know soccer. It is called fútbol in Spanish. I'm just surprised you play. Don't you need _see_ the ball?"

I chuckled. "You make an excellent point. That's why we have more lamps. It is really fun."

She was smiling then she looked at all the people planning to play and her face dropped. "No, I think I would like to sit on the side with the light."

The teams were chosen and I sat watching with Arena. I wanted to play, but I couldn't leave her alone. She was obviously frightened and being a Seeker or ex-Seeker as she claimed, she wasn't above defending herself. Someone would definitely get hurt. I'm just not sure who. She had me on the ground in a second with that flip maneuver.

My thoughts trailed and it occurred to me that she thought we might be Seekers back at the motel, so what was _she_ doing behind the hospital to suspect that. With her attitude toward what happened to her host, I wouldn't be surprised if it was shady.

I looked at her while she watched the game. It looked as if she was cheering for the team Sunny was on. Sunny was pretty good for such a tiny girl. Amazingly, her tiny frame gave her the ability to weave in and out of the tight defense getting to the goal in time to be ready for the pass and score the point.

"Arena?"

"Sí."

"What were you doing behind the hospital?" I asked her.

"What were _you_ doing?" She threw the question back at me.

"I asked you first."

"Well, I asked you second."

I huffed. "You saw. We were getting medical supplies," I told her. I kept the information about sending the Healer to another planet to myself.

She hesitated. "I was going to fix the cryotanks."

"They were broken?"

"Not yet."

"What?" I was surprised. "What were you going to do?"

"_Yo iba a atascar la cryotanks por lo que no podría derretir el alma_," she said quickly.

"In English, please."

"The cryotanks, I was going to jam them. A malfunctioning cryotank is sent to the Origin. There the cryotank is placed in a mechanism that removes the soul and thaws them out. If the cryotank is opened without thawing out the soul, it will kill them. Even if there was a way of thawing them, it would take time and it needs to be done in breathable atmosphere. That's why it is sent away. The distance is great. No soul, no insertion. I have already jammed a great number. There have been Seekers sent to investigate. The calling is risky, but if I stalled the humans from being erased, it is good," she explained.

**A/N: Well what do you think? Is Arena worth trusting? Don't forget she is/was a Seeker. She has the ability to do all things human, which includes: lying, hurting, physical violence, etc. But it doesn't mean she doesn't do good stuff. Is she lying or is she telling the truth?**

_**Sí **_**- yes **

_**Yo iba a atascar la cryotanks por lo que no podría derretir el alma **_**- ****I was going to jam the cryotanks so they couldn't thaw out the soul.**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: ****Well I know I haven't updated in a bit. I had stuff going on in reality so I had to put my imagination on hold. **

_**But now I'm back to let you know I could really shake 'em down. **_**[****The Contours**** - Do You Love Me (Now that I Can Dance)****]**

**Whoa! Ever start quoting from a song stuck in your head? It gets freaky.**

**To sweetlilsunshine, you're right Seekers are still souls. I'm stating the point of view of the humans. Arena has the potential. I guess you believe she is trustworthy. Jamie thinks so too.**

**I'm so glad to get people reading my story. Reviews are always welcome. And to my regulars, I write this for you. Spanish translation is on the bottom.**

**I do not own the Host.**

Chapter 32

"Stall?" I asked.

"_Sí. _The souls will try to locate a functional cryotank giving human groups like yours time to rescue the captive. There are rebel camps not far from the hospital. I stay out of their way. They are not comfortable with souls. They are always rescuing captured humans," Arena stated.

"Is there a lot?" I questioned curiously.

"_Sí. _Along the border there are many places to hide. Before we souls came, many humans used these hiding places to sneak into the country or just to sneak products across the border. Now it helps the humans again. Some places have been discovered, so humans needed to be rescued."

"We need to tell my uncle." I jumped up grabbing her hand.

"_¿Por qué?"_

I just looked at her.

"Why?" she translated.

"When you get a chance you need to teach me some of that Spanish. My Uncle Jeb is the . . ." I stopped before saying "leader." "He would be very interested."

We headed to the kitchen where Aunt Maggie and Uncle Jeb were discussing the idea of souls in the caves. I knew that in her opinion one was too many, but I think even she can't deny that our lives have been better since Wanda came around.

"Excuse me, Uncle Jeb."

"Yeah, kid?"

"Arena, here has some information that I think you would want to know about," I informed him.

"Spies. All of them," Maggie mumbled.

"Hush now. What is it?"

Arena shied into me. "Go on," I encouraged. "Tell him."

She told him about jamming the cryotanks and the human rescues.

"Can it be done? Aren't those cryotanks damage proof?" he asked suspiciously.

"I figured out a way," she simply said.

"I think we should run this by Wanda and Candy. Candy might have come across a malfunctioning cryotank at one point."

Neither one had ever heard of an occurrence. Arena took one of our empty cryotanks and set it to hibernate as if a soul were in there. She sealed it and once the light shown a dull red, she took one of dos's scalpels and slipped the sharp end under the safety switch. There was a buzzing sound emitted for a second. She handed the cryotank to Candy.

"Now open it."

Candy tried to flick the safety off to begin the thaw sequence, but it wouldn't shut. Wanda took the cryotank and turned the dial anyway for the thawing, but the lights weren't changing.

"Were you a spider?" Wanda asked.

"My mother."

"It is so simple."

"Well it is not like we thought anyone would try to tamper with the cryotanks."

"This world does things to us," Wanda added.

"I guess so," Arena smiled.

**A/N: So tell me what you think. I know it is really short. It is like half the size of the others. I'm trying to section up the story so the subjects are together.**

**Have an opinion?**

**Let me know, by clicking below.**

_**Sí **_**- yes**

_**¿Por qué?**_** – Why?**

As always, it is,

Great2read


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Now I know I just posted an update. I had typed and uploaded chapter 32, but never posted it. **_**Explanation is in A/N in previous chapter.**_** So here is the next one.**

**I don't own the Host. Translations are on the bottom.**

Chapter 33

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked. I was excited that we had a way to fight back. This new information was as great as when Wanda showed us how to get a soul out of a human.

"Nothin'," Jeb said. "We leave those humans to their business. By the way Arena described it, they are doin' pretty well."

"But Jeb, we could help," I suggested.

"It is too far to invest in man power there. Now my cantaloupes are thirsty. You gonna help with the irrigatin'?"

I started walking. "We help Nate and the others."

"Yeah well, they are our neighbors. We can't go out risking everyone's lives over active humans who got the attention of the Seekers."

A week later Arena was working in the field with me and the others, when Aaron and Brent approached. Arena became frightened and held onto her shovel like a teddy bear. For a soul who knew how to defend herself, she was still reluctant to use it unless absolutely necessary.

"What do you want guys?" I demanded standing in front of her.

"We want her to show us how to mess with the cryotanks. We are scheduled to go on the raid next week and we were planning to pass by a few air fields," Brent answered.

I turned to her and she nodded dropping the shovel as if it were red hot. I don't think she liked the idea of using it as a weapon. Wanda went along with Arena to the hospital while I continued to work in the field.

After one night, the raiders were back. They had cut the trip short because they heard some news from one driver who had been by the Mexican border recently. Turns out a little after we dropped off the Healer and acquired Arena, a human was captured. A soul was placed in him and he led the Seekers straight to the other humans. They were captured and are being held for injury repair.

When Arena heard she seemed devastated. "It's all my fault."

"Why do you think that?" I inquired.

"They thought they had more time. _Más tiempo__._ I wasn't there to tamper with the cryotanks—to stall," she wept. "They thought they had more time."

My heart ached. She shouldn't feel this way. It was my fault we took her. "Maybe we could help them. Rescue them. You just need to tell us how."

"I can't just _tell_ you. I need to be there. I know how to get in and get out. I was a Seeker, remember. I have clearance."

"I don't know. You can't leave here. You know too much about us," I explained.

"Those humans know about other humans. More rebel camps will be discovered, like the _dominó_. One after the other, after the other. Please we have to help them," she begged.

**A/N: I was going to stop here, but I realized my chapters are getting shorter and shorter. So I'm combining this with the next.**

I ran to Uncle Jeb and told him the situation. Jared and Ian showed up too, wanting to take action.

"Arena says she has knowledge of the containment center.She could help. You all know when we have Wanda or Sunny in a raid everything always goes smoother and faster. We should use Arena."

"ARE YOU NUTS!" Kyle said from behind me. I hadn't seen him arrive. "She knows too much. She hadn't proven herself or even has any motivation to help."

"She isn't one of us. We are the enemy because unlike Wanda and Sunny, she's not here voluntarily," Jared stated.

I looked over at Ian. "Ian, you believed Wanda was good before everyone else. You understand how I could trust Arena." He shook his head slowly as if he really didn't know what to say.

"Come on guys! Arena is the key to helping them," I chimed. I tried not to focus on the little notion of how it came to be she was the key.

"You really believe that strongly, kid?" Jeb asked.

I began to doubt. "We could put her to sleep. She won't know where our cave is, but she could help save the humans."

"Alright kid. Start preparin'."

I ran off to tell Arena and she was very pleased. She was beginning to get cabin fever.

Since we would be dealing with Seekers, the strongest of us were chosen to go on the mission: Ian, Jared, Brent, and Aaron. Doc was chosen too in case a separation was required, although this information wasn't told to Arena. Lastly, Melanie and I ended the list. Mel was going, because she would be the risk taker, the one to be caught if necessary to get the others out. As opposed as we all were to the idea, she had experience with a soul in her body and would have the know-how to control her memories. And I was chosen to keep Arena in check. I spent the most time with her.

No other souls were going to accompany us, because of the risk of being caught as a traitor was too great, plus the O'Shea brothers wanted to keep them around. Ex-hosts like Lacey and Candy wanted no part of the mission. They had enough of the souls controlling their body.

Arena was misted with sleep in the hospital wing and carried off to the van by Ian and Jared. The plan was we'd switch vans to another we had stolen later on when we reached the road. This way it could be abandoned later. We dressed in or cleanest darkest clothing, _Visions_ placed in our eyes, and we were off.

We removed the seats from the stolen van so I placed Arena's head on my lap. The trip back to the border hadn't taken as long with Jared driving at the speed limit, or maybe it just seemed shorter. I kept my eyes on Arena the whole time, thinking about how she is risking so much to save humans.

We woke Arena up and she moved over to Jared by the wheel.

"Okay," she yawned. "Drive down this road about two kilometers. There will be a large building that is the containment center. You humans used to call it a Jail."

"What? You mean we need to break into a prison?" Kyle asked.

"Don't worry. I have a plan," Arena said confidently.

"I don't like the sound of this," Aaron piped up.

"They have a care center inside," she said to Doc. "We need to tamper with the cryotanks to stop any insertions from being possible. That way if any of you are caught you'll still be you.

By the time we arrived outside of the prison, Arena enlightened us with her idea. Three of us will be caught humans being brought in by the rest who will pose as Seekers. Two Seekers to a human. Arena and I will bring in Mel, Kyle and Ian will bring in Doc, and Aaron and Brent will bring in Jared. Our "prisoners" will feign sleep and we will carry them in with their hands bound by ropes behind their backs. It should be cuffs but the story was we lost them in the pursuit of the capture, as well as borrowed a vehicle.

The Seeker guards at the gate bought the story and sent us off to the care center to have our humans checked out for injuries and health physicals. The care center was void of anyone so Kyle, Ian, Aaron, and Brent planned to go off in pairs to locate a key code box to open the cell doors.

"You need to get to the doorways on either side of the cell block. There there's the code box," Arena instructed. "There are two floors of prison cells and one box opens one floor while the other does the second. You need to press 75732. That is a Seeker clearance code. Then press the open button. The cells will unlock. _Esté preparado, _the humans will be_ locos_."

"As soon as the cells open we got to get out of here. How do you propose we do that with the mayhem?" Kyle asked.

"That's a good question," she stated. "_Gran __problema."_

"Wait, I have an idea," Brent uttered. "Guys come with me. You five take care of the cryotanks."

**A/N: So how was that? Can you guess what's going to happen? **

**If you think you know**

**Send me your guesses by clicking below**

**As always, it is**

**Great2read**

_Más tiempo – _More time

_Esté preparado_-Be prepared

_Locos_ - crazy

_Gran __problema— _big problem


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Okay I'm a little sad. I'm really not getting any reviews for my other fanfics. I'm beginning to believe I'm not that good a writer. Please review. And tell me what you think.**

**Now I'm just pathetic . . .**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host.**

Chapter 34

I was about to pull out my knife to cut Jared loose, when a Seeker walked in.

"Hey," he said with surprise. He looked at Arena with eyes wide. "Seeker Sand what is this?" Doc, Mel, and Jared jolted to stare at Arena.

"Oh, hello Seeker Sings," she said calmly.

"I'm in disbelief. Are you to tell me completed your mission already?"

I ogled at Arena. There was coldness in her eyes I didn't notice before.

"Yes I have," she answered. "I've discovered a new human encampment."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I could I fall for this?

"These three were the leader of the rebellion," she continued. "There will be a lot of information in their brains. Healer James here was about to do the insertions." _Healer James?_ She pointed at me.

I caught on quickly. "Yes. The procedure will be quick." I pulled my sister over to the table and laid her face down. Jared and Doc just stood there dumbfounded.

The Seeker followed me to help move Mel while Arena picked up a cryotank. The Seeker turned the focus light on. It was angle toward me the light hit my eyes. I heard Arena take a deep breath when the light shot at me, but she released it when the light reflected out. The Seeker manipulated the light onto Melanie's neck.

He took a closer look. "What's this? There are scars here from an insertion."

Suddenly, the cryotank came swiftly around and knocked the Seeker clear across the face. He fell to the floor. Arena put the cryotank down on to the table and started chanting, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Be sorry later," I yelled. "We have to untie everyone." I quickly pulled my knife out and sliced through Jared's rope. Arena was frozen. Jared undid Doc and Mel. While I tried to pull Arena together.

"I never harmed one of my own before. It's unsettling," she remarked.

"We need to jam the cryotanks now. You need to pick sides. Please if you are on ours, help us," I said.

She shook clearing her head and went over to the cryotanks to begin.

"Did you know she was a Seeker?" Mel whispered to me. I nodded. "You should have told us. You put our entire cave in jeopardy by letting her out."

"I know Mel."

"You're lucky she is on our side." She gave me a stern and disappointed look that made me realize I'm in so much trouble.

Doc pulled the Seeker onto the table. "We need to take care of him." He pulled over the prepared insertion tray and Jared brought over an empty cryotank.

"What are you guys doing?" Arena asked.

"A separation," Mel informed her.

"Your scar . . ." Arena's eyes widened. "You know how to do a separation."

Just as the soul was slipped into the cryotank, the alarms went off.

"We got to move!" Jared yelled.

Arena and I finished jamming all the cryotanks, including the one holding the Seeker, while Doc sealed up the Seeker's host. Still unconscious, Jared lifted him onto his shoulder and we all made a run for it.

As we went through the cell block to meet the others, we saw several Seekers piled out cold by the doorways. A faint smell of raspberries radiated from them. I guess Brent's plan was to just spray every Seeker they find with _sleep_. Humans were running for the exits and the alarms were triggered by the two or three Seekers that were left unaware they were alone.

"This is not good," Arena stated. "The Seekers are outnumbered. It will become lethal."

As if by her words there were shots fired off the second floor level into the main hall. The Seekers were pulling out their guns. Some humans had located pistols and were firing back. We kept clear, ducking behind cell walls.

"Hey there is Aaron," Doc indicated. Jared crawled staying out of view over to where he was. Mel stood in front of me. A lot of good that would do, we are about the same size now.

Being very careful the two came back to us.

"Where are the others?" Aaron asked.

"Aren't they with you?" Mel reminded him.

"We got separated when the alarm went off."

"_i__Hay!"_ Arena pointed to Brent on the balcony aiming his firearm at one Seeker who had shot several humans. Before he had a chance to take the shot, a few humans grabbed the Seeker. They started beating on him. They kicked at the Seeker and blood could be seen shooting upward even from our distance. Brent ran to them and pushed them away. The humans all rushed in different directions.

"Brent!" I called to him. He turned to us, but suddenly a rain of ammunition came our way.

"Stay back!" Melanie screamed. The one of the two Seekers left was firing at us. The other had a clear view of us, but she was pulled behind bars. Unable to reach her rifle that was now in an escaped human's hands. I saw the guy aim and fire a single shot. The rain of bullets ceased. I guess he hit his target.

Ian ran to us from another area. "Are you all okay?" He had a cut over his forehead, but otherwise unharmed. The humans were clearing out of the cell block.

"We are all fine," Jared claimed. "You couldn't save some for me?"

"Hey, you snooze you lose."

Brent made to us too. "Hey, that wasn't very smart yelling like that," he said to me.

"Brent, where's Kyle?" Ian asked.

"I'm over here," he said from across the room. He was limping over to our direction.

"We need to go," Arena reminded us. "The alarm singles to other facilities. There will be more Seekers coming."

We made it out to the van and drove off in the direction some humans were going. As we caught up to them, Ian stuck his head out the passenger-side window.

"Need a lift?"

They nodded and we opened the van door without stopping. The quickly jumped in, squishing the rest of us in the back.

We went at high speeds until we were far enough away then Jared slowed down as we approached a truck rest area. He stopped the van and the side door opened allowing us to literally pour out.

"Do you guys have a place to go?" Mel asked.

They looked confused, so Arena translated. They nodded then continued to speak to her in Spanish.

"They want to know how it was possible for us to help them," Arena explained.

"Tell them we had help from above on our side. They will understand it as angels and you won't be lying," Ian suggested.

"Oh don't worry, she has no problem with lying," Jared uttered.

Arena's face dropped, but she translated the words to the humans. They nodded with large smiles.

"Ask them if they have room for the Seeker's host. Tell them he has been 'freed.' If he wakes, he could provide a lot of information to help them," Mel said. "Our place is way too full and we already have a Seeker to deal with."

Arena's expression grew more solemn, but still translated.

"_Sí, __y que Dios bendiga__todos sus esfuerzos."_

"They said God bless us," Arena said sadly.

They took hold of the Seeker's host and ran off into one of the parked trucks. There was silence and then the ignition sounded. As they drove off, a soul came running out of the restroom yelling over the engine's roar, "That's my truck!"

**A/N: So how did I do? Was it a good chapter? I hope you all enjoyed it. Send me a review. It will make me update faster. **

**As always, it is,**

**Oh hell! I'm getting tired of that poem.**

**R.&R. please.**

_i__Hay! – _There!

_Sí, __y que Dios bendiga__todos sus esfuerzos. _– Yes and may God bless all your endeavors.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: I'm so glad people reviewed the chapter. I initially had a very easy break out planned for the prison, but after reading my reviews I saw that action was what you wanted. So you see your comments affect the story so keep reviewing.**

**Without further ado, I don't own the Host, only the crazy thoughts bouncing in my head. (Ouch! That one hurt.)**

**Remember I don't actually know Spanish, so I'm sorry if there are any errors. Translation is on the bottom.**

**I don't own the host.**

**Chapter 35**

We all got into the van and we drove off. All was quiet for two minutes then Mel started on me.

"I can't believe you Jamie. How could you do that? A Seeker! She's a Seeker! Have you no concept of awareness? She could have turned us all in!"

Arena looked down to the van floor and started quivering.

I stood on my knees to make my point. "But she didn't! She helped us."

"Wait a minute," Kyle interrupted. "Who are you talking about?"

"Arena," Mel pointed out. "She's a Seeker."

"What?" the bothers exclaimed together.

"And Jamie talked us into letting her out of the cave," Mel stated.

"Only she could get us in. She was familiar with the prison. She knows the other Seekers," I defended.

"Sure she knows them. Because of that I almost had another soul put in me."

"By me!"

"At that moment I didn't know who you were, Jamie. You were alone with her in the caves. She could have turned you."

"There aren't any souls down there to turn me with. And even if she did, you really think I would let myself do that? You're my sister, Mel. I'd fight just as hard as you did."

Everyone was silent.

There were quiet sobs heard and I turned to Arena. Tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry. _Lo siento,"_ she said. She looked up. _"__Tuve que __guardar, __para hacer __las cosas bien. __Fue mi culpa. __No se moleste __con __Jamie. __Él estaba tratando de ayudar. No te a su vez, __ninguno de ustedes. Yo no quiero que nadie se __borrará. Esta es tu __planeta. Sus vidas. No quiero __tomar __más __de distancia."_ We all stared at her.

"Ah girlie, English," Brandt said.

She vigorously shook her head. _"__Mis palabras causar daños. No más."_ She curled herself in the corner, hugging her knees.

"Well what are we going to do now?" Aaron whispered.

"I still have a gun. Maybe we should blow her brains out," Brandt suggested.

"What!" everyone uttered in unison.

"I'm kidding," he claimed. Ian just shook his head. I didn't get the joke either. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. We just saved more humans than I've seen in a while and walked away to tell the tale. We should be celebrating."

"It's up to Uncle Jeb what to do with Arena," I heard Mel say. "We have to bring her back to the caves."

"Separation?" Doc asked.

"Maybe," Ian uttered. "Wanda's not going to be happy."

"What if her host doesn't wake up? We're going to have two bodies rotting in the hospital wing," Kyle asked.

"No one is going to be rotting," Doc stated. "We have enough _nutrition_ to last a while and I'm doing passive range of motion exercises with Emily. I could do it on Arena's host also until we figure out how to wake them both.

They all kept whispering away. I just went to sit by Arena.

"Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you."

_"__¿Qué van a hacer conmigo?__" _she asked.

I had no clue what she said, so I just shook my head in confusion. Her face scrunched up and more tears flowed. I guess that answered her question. Her head bent down and her forehead rested on top of her knees. I put my arm around her. "It'll be okay."

She was asleep when we pulled up to our van. I was going to wake her, but Jared misted her to stay asleep. He and Aaron lifted her gently into the other van. Jared took the wheel of our van while Aaron took the wheel of our stolen vehicle. We drove off to another town to abandon the getaway van and then we all headed back to the cave.

Everyone gave questioning glances when Arena was placed in the storage cave and hands bound with rope again. I thought it was unfair to misjudge her so quickly based on her previous calling, especially when she did nothing to earn that mistrust.

Andy and Paul were placed to guard Arena. I volunteered, but Mel said my point of view was clouded. I thought everything seemed pretty clear to me. Arena staked her life and her reputation as a soul, to save a bunch of humans she didn't even know. Even Wanda hadn't done that – but she did come close.

A tribunal was arranged and everyone came to attend. Arena stood in the center of the game room between Andy and Paul.

"Y'all know why ya here," Uncle Jeb announced. "We're here to determine the fate of the said Seeker Arena." There were whispers from the crowd.

I stood up to say my piece. "It's very simple. She helped us. She freed all those humans and she even attacked another Seeker to get us out of there unharmed. It doesn't matter what she used to be. It only matters what she is now and that is a rebel – like us." A few people clapped, but the majority just mumbled to each other.

Melanie went up next. "I know what many of you are thinking, 'why is Melanie, ex-host and practically sisters with Wanda, standing here?'"

"I know that's what I'm thinking," I uttered."

"Well let me tell you, little brother. Because she's a Seeker. You heard what that Seeker Sings said about her mission. It was to find more rebel camps like ours. _More_, meaning she had already found some."

"She attacked him and got us out!" I yelled.

"Because she didn't finish her mission. She doesn't know our location. She still needs us to trust her."

"But she orchestrated a jail break. If she is supposed to help get more rebels, why would she let all those escape?"

"Are you sure? I didn't see where they went. We only know the five we gave a lift to got away. The others could have been caught by the Seekers coming from the alarms. No real sacrifice there in letting rebels go if you know they will be caught again quickly." Many people yelled "Yeah" in agreement.

"Mel why are you against her? Why do you think so suspiciously?" I asked gently.

"Because I've seen Seeker deception first hand. You remember Emily, right?" she paused. "That Seeker fooled us into thinking she was Emily. She misted the Healer and claimed she missed you, so we would bring her back here."

"It takes a special kind of soul to be a Seeker," Wanda voiced. She handed Born to Ian.

"Not you too, Wanda," I whined.

"I'm neutral right now, but that Seeker in Emily. It's not something anyone could easily forget. And remember a Seeker also killed Wes. This decision is not easy. Is Arena a soul worth keeping around or do we do her host a favor and send Arena off-planet?"

**A/N: OMG what should they do next? You guys decide. Send me your requests. Your votes count. The polls are open.**

_Lo siento- _I'm sorry

_Tuve que__guardar,__para hacer__las cosas bien.__Fue mi culpa__. __No se moleste__con__Jamie__. __Él__estaba tratando de ayudar. No te a su vez, __ninguno de ustedes.__ Yo no quiero que nadie se __borrará__. Esta es tu __planeta__. Sus vidas. No quiero __tomar__más__de distancia. -_ I had to save them, to make everything right. It was my fault. Don't be upset with Jamie. He was trying to help. I wouldn't turn you in, any of you. I don't want anyone to be erased. This is your planet. Your lives. I don't want to take anymore away.

_Mis palabras causar daños. No más._ - My words cause damage. No more.

_¿Qué van a hacer conmigo?__ -_ What are they going to do to me?


	36. Message

**A/N: I know I'm sorry this isn't an update. I have set up a poll on my profile on what to do with Arena. I didn't realize that it wouldn't automatically get posted to my profile. But now it is there. Don't forget to vote.**

**As always, it is,**

**great2read**


	37. Chapter 36

**A/N: I read your reviews and I'm working on possible story chapters, but before that . . . Here goes an update. I'm sorry if it is a bit short.**

**I don't own the Host. (Well actually I do own a copy.)**

**Translation on the bottom.**

**Chapter 36**

The whole time Arena kept quiet. I looked at her. "Why don't you defend yourself? Tell them you wouldn't hurt them."

She kept her head down and kept mumbling, "_No __más._"

I looked back at the people. "She didn't do anything wrong. So she's a Seeker. It means what? That she could cause harm? Any one of us has that capacity, except for Wanda and Sunny of course. That's what makes us human. Heck, it was the reason why the souls came here in the first place, right Wanda?" she nodded. "It doesn't mean we will. And neither will Arena."

She and I were sent out of the room for everyone to discuss her fate. She sat down by the wall, while I paced.

"They can't do this to you," I ranted. "They can't just say you're dangerous with no proof." Her face was in her hands.

I tried to lighten the mood. "You know you never got a chance to teach me Spanish," I reminded her. "I'm sure you will still get a chance. They have to keep you around. You're important."

"I'm really not needed anymore," she whispered lifting her face.

My pacing stopped. "Hey, don't think like that."

"It's true. You have Wanda and Sunny, who are souls and Melanie, who used to be. There isn't anything I can contribute. You know how to heal using soul medicines, and do separations. Even your eyes reflect like a soul, although it never does it down here."

I thought for a moment before I spoke. "They are called _visions_. Soul's use them to correct their eyesight. We obtained some to give the illusion we are souls when we walk among them. We all have scars on our necks to look like we have insertions." I showed her mine. "It completes our disguise, although some of us had real ones."

"Really? There are more ex-hosts down here?" She sounded impressed.

"Yeah. Once Doc learned how, he had freed a lot of hosts. And they are just here. Other human camps ask for our help."

"This Emily they spoke about is she the girl in the hospital wing — the one with no one home?" she carefully spoke.

I looked away. "Yes. She was my girlfriend."

"What happened to her?"

I sat down by Arena. "She left. She didn't like that there were souls living here. When Wanda went to a soul hospital to have her baby, Emily was there — only she wasn't Emily anymore. The Seeker in her knew we left Emily in the nearest town from here, so hoping Wanda would want Healers' help during birth, she waited and was right."

"I'm so sorry," she said with a comforting pat on my knee. "How did they figure it wasn't really her?"

"Well from the way I heard it, she tried to escape with the Healer. They took him along for the ride home, just like we took you. They never made it here. There was a problem and the group ended up at another human camp. Since the Seeker had that one's location, she revealed herself."

"It must have broken your heart when you heard she had been erased."

"No. She broke it the day she left."

"You know I could teach you some Spanish while we are waiting," she cheerfully changed the subject. "Ask me something and I'll translate it."

"Okay. How do you say 'cows won't milk themselves'?" I asked laughing.

She giggled. _"Las vacas no se van a la leche."_

I repeated it. "What about 'an upside down noodle fits in a caboodle'?"

"A caboodle?" she asked scrunching up her nose.

"Yeah," I chuckled.

"_Un revés fideos cabe en un Caboodle."_ She laughed so hard.

"And how do you say 'I like you'?" I asked moving closer to her.

She giggled. _"Me gustas."_

My smile was gone and I glanced at her lips._ "Me gustas." _I leaned in closer and kissed her gently.

She held still for the second, but then her head slipped down, breaking the kiss. "_Esto no es cierto__," _she whispered. _"__Soy una cautiva. Que se enojará con usted." _She turned her head and glanced to the ground.

I think I must have caught her off guard. "I'm sorry. Maybe I should have asked first."

"Maybe you should go inside," she said softly still staring at the ground. "_Los demás pensarán que estoy tratando de usar para escapar."_ I had no idea what she said in Spanish, but the English was clear enough. She didn't like me back.

I got up from my place and proceeded to enter the game room.

"Jamie," she called out and I turned to her. _"Me preocupo por ti también. Pase lo que pase."_

When I got into the game room, I could hear the arguing back and forth. It appeared that most of the room were on Mel's side, but Wanda and Sunny were stating that it may not matter her past doings only her present deeds. I cheered them on loudly and then the group turned to me.

"Ah Jamie, where's Arena?" Uncle Jeb asked.

"She's just outside the cave." I went to the hall with some people following, but she was gone.

"Way to go Jamie!" someone yelled.

**A/N: What do you think happened? Isn't this exciting? Please send me your thoughts. I wonder if this will change thing in the polls? **

_No más – _No more

_Esto no es cierto. Soy una cautiva. Que se enojará con usted. -_This is wrong. I'm a captive. They will be angry with you.

_Los demás pensarán que estoy tratando de usar para escapar. – _The others will think I'm trying to use you to get away.

_Me preocupo por ti también. Pase lo que pase. – _I care about you too. Whatever happens.


	38. Chapter 37

**A/N: Well this is the outcome. Not many of you like voting. I only received two votes and one was **_**mine**_**. I was testing it out. I figured I'll just let the story take me where it wants to go. I did get some suggestions in the reviews and tried to incorporate them, so if you recognize yours, thank you.**

**I still don't own the host, but maybe one day . . . **

**Chapter 37**

"No this couldn't be right. Arena has got to be here!" I insisted. Someone took out their flashlight and illuminated all the crevices around the pathway. She was really gone. Everyone exited the game room and fanned out to look for Arena. I could hear her name being called out by different people throughout the cave hideout. Some sounded as if they were goading her. The community started getting desperate so Uncle Jeb decided to organize us into groups. This way each area of the caves could be thoroughly searched. That's what they did when Wanda went missing two years ago. _Could it really have been that long ago?_

I was with Mel and Wanda, who carried Born in her arms, heading off to the southern tunnel to search the hospital wing.

"I can't believe you left her alone, Jamie."

"I already apologized fifty times, Mel. What else do you want?"

"I want Arena found and nobody to get hurt."

"No one is going to get hurt. I told you she probably ran, because she was scared. She thinks the community want so hurt her. She thinks we have no use for her and Doc will do a separation." We entered the hospital.

"Well after this she is probably going to get one."

"Um, guys …" I vaguely heard Wanda say.

"She's not useless Mel! She's on our side. Every person in this community is important and so is she," I claimed.

"Guys …"

"She is a danger. She could hurt us at any time!" Mel announced.

"Not this again! She wouldn't—"

"Guys!" Wanda yelled interrupting.

We turned to her in shock. B was staring up at his mother.

She paused as she was surprised by her own loudness. "Sorry," she whispered. Her voice went back to normal volume. "I didn't mean to interrupt your sibling bickering, but Emily is gone."

"What!" we both yelled so loud it echoed.

"Are you sure?" Mel asked.

"Yes. I checked the cot and all around it on the floor. There are only a bunch of blankets here."

"She took Emily's body?" Mel questioned.

"She couldn't have," I stated in disbelief.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure Emily just got up and walked away. Maybe she joined the search," Mel said sarcastically.

"Why would she want Emily's body?" Wanda asked. "I mean sure her body could be used as a host, but she would need to carry her away. It wouldn't make sense if she was running."

"But if she was plotting . . ."

"No she wouldn't. I don't believe that." My mind was racing. Arena knew Emily's mind would contain the location of Nate's caves. "She wouldn't betray me!"

"Betray you? What are you saying?" Melanie asked. "You didn't tell her how to get out, did you?"

"Of course not! But while we were talking I told her about the Seeker in Emily. Arena knows Emily's mind would know how to get to Nate."

"All she would need is a spare soul to check," Wanda stated.

"But there aren't any," I said.

"There's hers," Mel resolved. She walked over to Doc's medical equipment. "There's a scalpel missing." Mel moved the flashlight over to where the soul meds rested. Everything had been knocked over. "I can't tell if anything has been taken."

My heart began sped to almost loud thumps. _What was wrong with me? Does everyone I like want to leave?_

We ran out of there to find the others. We caught up with Ian, Kyle, and Sunny by the main garden room. They were searching the tall stalks of corn. Sunny was completely surprised. "I really thought she was on our side."

Kyle resolved that he would want to personally take care of the problem. "No one is going to hurt Sunny or Wanda."

"And Born," Ian spoke up. "Don't forget, the Seeker knew about Born." He took born from Wanda's arms to give him a tight squeeze. "Daddy," Born squealed.

"He spoke!" I uttered.

"He has been doing that a lot lately. Mostly single words and pronouns. You'd know that, but you stopped visiting," Ian said.

"We could do this later," Wanda commented. "Right now we have to find Arena and Emily."

We split up to find more community members and inform them on the current problem. We were supposed to meet back in the main garden. I found Doc, Sharon, Candy, and Lacey.

"Arena would need a secluded place to do the procedure," Doc suggested. "A place no one would bother her."

"She can't exactly do the procedure on herself," Sharon said. "It would knock her out cold. I mean it's major."

"She could if she used the _awake_," Lacey countered. "I knew of, well not me, the Seeker I was host to, once met with a Seeker that went off to go on a routine check of an abandoned home and came back in another host. He claimed there was a human hiding in there and the altercation became violent. His host was injured badly and he had to do an emergency separation and insertion. He opened up the human and sprayed himself with _awake_ as well as the human. He severed enough space on his own neck to crawl out and attach to the new host."

"He sounds like a liar to me," Candy stated.

"Why would he lie?"

"I don't know Lacey, maybe to one up your Seeker. You've told me so many tales about what your Seeker has done. If she was half as boastful as you are—"

"Ladies," Doc interrupted. "It's impossible to do the separation on yourself, or Wanda would have. The _awake_ can't keep the host awake without the soul. Arena would need someone to do the procedure. Another soul or an ex-host."

"Wanda and Sunny are with the O'Shea brothers," I mumbled sure.

"And we are here," Candy spoke.

"What about the other Healer host?" Sharon reminded us.

We all started running down the corridor to the main garden.

"He's a big guy," I said as we went. "She couldn't capture him."

"She's a Seeker. Look at me," Lacey claimed. "I'm tiny, but I captured many humans, I mean the Seeker in me!"

We got to the garden and there were a good number of us waiting there. They all were telling each other where they had been searching and that it was all clear. Dr. Jeffery and Gregory were nowhere to be found.

"I think they were on their way," Trudy said. "I know I saw them going to check the river room. Gregory got something in his shoe and Dr. Jeffery was helping him with it."

Jared, Mel, and I started running in that direction. We were going in such speeds, I wasn't sure if we were being followed.

We heard some arguing coming from the cave. Someone mumbled in Spanish. I couldn't make out what was being said in either language. The vision in my head had been awful, but nothing could have prepared me for what I actually saw.

We finally made it to the cave. Dr. Jeffery and Gregory were talking to someone standing by the cliff edge, trying to keep her calm.

"_Por favor, déjame ir. No te puedo ayudar,"_ Arena cried. Emily had her arm around Arena's waist and was holding something to her neck.

"Omigosh!" I swore. "Emily!" I suddenly had a severe flashback. _Emily's hand holding a knife dangerously close to Sunny's throat. Sunny's face covered in tears calling for Kyle._

Sunny walked away unharmed, only this time Emily has a scalpel to Arena's throat and Arena seems to be covered in blood.

A sneer was on Emily's face. "Jamie. Just the guy I was hoping to see. You have any tricks today? I have your little girlfriend right here."

"_Por favor, sólo me dejó ir. Usted está hacienda cosas malas para usted,"_ Arena uttered.

"How the hell do you understand what this girl is saying?" Emily shook Arena.

"Ah." Arena winced, grabbing her belly.

"Emily let her go!" Jared yelled. We all converged closer to Emily.

"You all better stop where you are. I'm on the edge of a cliff. One step closer and she goes overboard." She turned to place Arena closer to the edge.

"Okay Emily," I called out. We all halted. "Why are you doing this to Arena?"

"I want out and she wouldn't tell me! Why do all want to keep me here?"

I took some careful steps closer to Emily. "You were caught Emily by the Seekers. We rescued you. We got the soul out."

"But you brought me back here."

"The Seeker found out where another human hideout was. We can't let you get caught again," I explained.

"I want out of this place. Tell me how to get out or I'll . . . I'll kill her." She pressed the scalpel closer to Arena. Arena hissed in the pain.

I suddenly couldn't breathe as if Emily was choking the life out of me. "Emily," I begged.

"I swear I'll do it!"

"Okay! Okay, just don't hurt her," I said in panic.

"No Jamie," Arena called. "I'm just one. If you tell her, she'll know two rebel camps. You'll all be erased."

I came closer. She'll kill you, Arena." I focused on Arena's eyes barely reflecting in the dim light. Tears flowed down her face.

"It doesn't matter," she whispered. She winced and showed me her bloody hand from her belly. "I'm going to die anyway."

"Arena . . ."

"_Te amo, Jamie," _she sobbed.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The hand she just showed me went down her side, while the other went to her neck. She shifted backward making Emily lose her grip as well as her balance. I ran to them.

I could hear Mel scream, "NO!" But it was too late they both went over the cliff. Melanie had grabbed at my legs causing me to trip. I landed flat, my arms dangling over the cliff.

**A/N: I realize this is one of my longer chapters, but I couldn't help myself. Once I get to writing it's hard to stop. Read and review. I would love to know what you all think.**

_Por favor, déjame ir. No te puedo ayudar. _— Please, let me go. I can't help you.

_Por favor, sólo me dejó ir. Usted está hacienda cosas malas para usted. _— Please, just let me go. You are making things bad for you.

_Te amo, Jamie_ — I love you, Jamie


	39. Chapter 38

**A/N: This chapter is for those of us who can't let sleeping dogs lie . . . **_**or**_** good characters die.**

**No, I still don't own the Host, but we are under negotiations. I'm just kidding.**

**Chapter 38**

"Arena!" I screamed.

Mel was still holding my legs. "Jamie, you're going to fall."

"Jared help!" I yelled. "I got her! I have Arena, but she's slipping."

Jared crawled, army style, and stretched over the edge. I had Arena by her shirt and it was tearing quickly from the spot where Emily must have stabbed Arena. Arena was holding onto her shirt, trying to prevent it from ripping further. Jared grabbed at her one of her arms.

My vision went blurry. "Hold on, Arena. Hold on." I couldn't see a trace of Emily anywhere. The steam from the river below hit my face and I could feel it scorching. Falling down there must have been an awful way to die.

Ian came to my other side and grabbed Arena's other arm. "Okay guys. Pull!"

I could feel my legs being pulled dragging my body away from the cliff edge. The ground underneath my arms began to crumble away from the pressure. I wiped my face against my shirt sleeve successfully clearing my eyes. I kept them on Arena. The tear was getting longer as she seemed to slip farther down. Ian and Jared adjusted their grips on her as more of the rock fell away and she began rising. Her body finally came high enough. I replaced my arms around Arena's torso one at a time not completely releasing her shirt, just in case. Then she was heaved on to solid ground and carried by the three of us still horizontal to safer land. I could see Kyle had a strong hold over his brother's legs while Aaron had Jared's. We all saved her together. Her head lay on my lap.

"Arena," escaped my lips when I saw her bodily injuries, especially the blood slowly leaking from her neck.

"Jamie," she sobbed. My hand went to cover her neck wound and I could feel her pulse growing weak. "I'm sorry."

"No, Arena. _Lo siento._ _I'm_ sorry," I said.

"That's good Jamie," she smiled. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You said it perfectly." Her arms drooped down, no longer having any strength.

I pressed my hand better on her would. I couldn't feel a pulse anymore. "Arena! Arena!"

"I'm so sorry Jamie," Mel said softly. Her arms curled around my body, giving me a sisterly embrace that clearly indicated she was glad I hadn't fallen. But I had . . . for Arena.

Doc ran in with Candy bringing as much meds and medical equipment as they could carry.

"Lay her flat Jamie. We have to work quickly before her heart stops beating," Doc commanded.

"She lost a lot of blood," Candy uttered.

"Let's just hope it wasn't an artery Emily severed."

The two quickly worked on Arena, each took one major wound. Candy had lifted Arena's torn shirt to just below her breasts and I could see a straight slash cut across her left side just beneath her rib. The _Heal _didn't seem to be working. And I knew the only reason it wouldn't was if she was dead.

Mel and Wanda picked me up to take me away. I was crying like a little kid, _very_ unlike the sixteen year old I was. I didn't even care.

Arena was still unconscious two days later in the hospital wing. Her neck and side wound were healing slowly. Candy explained the soul meds work with cell growth and since Arena had lost so much blood and her heart was beating so weakly that it was going to take longer than usual to cure her.

"The souls," she said, "would never have bothered trying to repair her body. They would have just given her a new one."

Arena's body was in such critical condition, but I kept my hopes up because the truth was that she _was_ healing.

"Hey." I sat by her cot again today and took her hand. "I have good news. That little stunt you pulled finally convinced everyone you're on our side." I smiled slightly, but my frown returned. "I miss you." I took out a book that Lucinda had gotten once on a raid she went on. It was meant for her children. It was a book of fairytales in Spanish. Lucinda had been reading it to them. She loaned it to me so that I could read to Arena. I didn't know which story it was for sure, but it had a picture of a girl asleep with a boy by her bed. So if my memory served me correctly, it was either Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. I began to read, not knowing precisely what the lines on top of some letters are for.

"_El príncipe dijo: '¡Qué hermoso era el rostro de la princesa. Es una pena que duerme.' Él se inclinó para darle un beso. Cuando_ _sus labios tocaron-"_

"_Por favor,"_ Arena whispered. _"Te estás metiendo con la historia."_

"Arena?" I gasped. "You're okay."

"_Sí,"_ she tried to get up. Her voice was low. "But please. You read very badly. This is supposed to be the best part."

I couldn't contain my happiness. I just hugged her gently so not to hurt her. "I'm so glad you're awake. You had me worried there."

"The best part," she said still in my arms. "Do the best part."

"Huh?"

She lifted her face and our lips touched. I pulled away, a little confused.

As I stared into her eyes, it finally occurred to me. "Was that what I was reading?"

She nodded.

"Well then . . ." I pressed my lips to hers. She was right, this is the best part.

She spoke again. _"__Lo siento, Jamie._ I'm sorry about before, if I hurt you. I thought they—"

I put my index finger over her mouth. "Shh. No more talking." My finger traded places with my thumb and I lightly rubbed against her soft lips. My hand lifted her chin toward me and we connected again.

"Hey hey. She needs to breathe you know," a voice came from the doorway. It was Doc with some food for me. "We are all glad you survived. It was a big shock that Emily had you."

"_Créeme," she uttered, "_no more than I. Jamie walked into the large cave and someone grabbed me in the darkness. I would have screamed, but she covered my mouth. She whispered in my ear that I should show her the way out of the cave. I could feel something poking at my side and I tried to pull away. She jabbed the sharp object into my side and I could feel the slice as my insides met with the stinging air. _Le dolia mucho. _I've never been in that much pain before. She dragged me all over the caves. Keeping me quiet as people passed by. She claimed she had woken weeks ago and wandered around at night for the exit. She became frustrated so she made the decision to forcibly get one of the people to tell her. But she found no one around but me. She was very anxious as everyone searched for me. I was terrified and faint. Things became very fuzzy until you all showed up in the river room."

"She had been feigning unconsciousness? I was wondering why her muscles weren't deteriorating," Doc mused.

"I'm kind of hungry," Arena commented. "It doesn't look like Doc brought enough for me. Since no one is afraid of me anymore, maybe we could get some food from the kitchen?"

"Okay."

We headed to the kitchen passing many people on the way. They all called out hellos or waved with smiles. It was a very drastic change for Arena and she would send unsure delayed replies in return.

When we stepped into the kitchen, we saw Mel, Wanda, and B having lunch. B was being fed some green mashed vegetable that didn't look very appetizing. Mel was trying to show Wanda how to get B to get be to open his mouth. He seemed reluctant to continue eating.

"Hello guys. Can we join you?" I asked politely.

"Sure," Wanda quickly responded. She mumbled something to Mel.

"Okay," she whispered back with a little too much effort. She turned to Arena as we sat down. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I could see you were trying to help, but my first instinct is to _not_ trust. It helped us survive up there."

"Me too," Arena agreed.

"I mean, you could understand. You've been a Seeker. You know what Seekers do."

Arena nodded. "You must have had a really bad soul in you."

"On the contrary," Mel chimed. "I had a really _good_ soul in me. That's why I'm not dead, why separation is an option, and why we could live comfortably down in these caves."

"What happened to the soul?" Arena asked.

We all glanced at each other.

"I'm right here," Wanda confessed.

"_You _were in _her?_" Arena asked using her finger to point. Wanda nodded. "It makes sense now how you two are so close. You've been in her head."

"And she's been in mine. Melanie spoke to me," Wanda explained.

The idea took Arena by surprise. "She wasn't erased?"

Mel shook her head. "I fought back."

Arena looked at my sister with a resounding awe. "Extraordinary. I've never heard of such a thing. Did the other ex-hosts have such an experience?"

"Lacey spoke to her soul too, but she wasn't as accommodating as Wanda," I said. "The soul was a Seeker."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. The others were merely silent awarenesses to their soul."

"Do you think my host might still be in here?" Arena pointed to her head.

"We've discovered there was an association with length of time the soul has been in the host and the age of the host at the time of insertion. The older the host was the more likely they will wake. How old was your host?" Wanda inquired.

"She was eighteen and I'm twenty now."

"That's really young. If you can't feel her, she may be gone. My host's memories do not go back far enough to even know what her name was. All that I know is from the previous soul's memory. My host didn't wake when it was freed. But it varies the other way too. Sunny has every memory her host had. She knows everything about her including her name, Jodi. Jodi didn't wake either. Jodi is so much a part of Sunny that Sunny feels the same love Jodi had for her partner, Kyle."

"Kyle? _The_ Kyle?"

"The same. He loves Sunny as much as he ever loved Jodi," Wanda declared.

"So my host really could be erased?"

"We could take you out and check," Mel suggested.

"But what if she wakes? Where would Arena go?" I uttered.

**A/N: Okay I just realized this was another long chapter. So is everyone happy?**

**Let me know what you think. R&R**

_Lo siento- _I'm sorry

"_El príncipe dijo: '¡Qué hermoso era el rostro de la princesa. Es una pena que duerme.' Él se inclinó para darle un beso. Cuando_ _sus labios tocaron-"_— "The Prince said, 'How lovely was the face of this princess. It is a shame that she sleeps.' He leaned over to give her a kiss. When his lips touched—"

_Por favor_— please

_Te estás metiendo con la historia_ — You're messing up the story.

_Sí _— yes

_Créeme _– Believe me

_Le dolia mucho_ – It really hurt


	40. Chapter 39 Part 4: Seven Years Later

**AN: Okay I know I took very long to update. I was working on other stories. To be honest I had writer's block on this particular fanfiction. Plus, I was doing loads of reading. There are so many great novels out there I really think it is "**_**great to read**_**." Get it? Oh never mind.**

**I took into account the time lapse, though mine took years.**

**I don't own anything. Enjoy.**

Ch 39 Seven years later

I can't stand living here. My parents say it is for my own protection. What do they know? I'm eight and I know life on topside would be so much better. After all, I _am_ a soul. The other souls wouldn't hurt me. But no I'm stuck here. I work just like any other person and I must take classes with the other children. My sister follows me around all the time. She's four _and_ a human. I could never understand the petty arguments the other kids have with each other. Why can't they just share and be happy?

I sometimes ask my mom again why we can't just go up top and she goes into this story of Jamie and Arena— this human and soul pairing that happened years ago. According to what was told to me, Arena the soul wanted to know if her host was still there. When they took her out, the host lay unconscious for days before they put the soul back in. She was very disappointed. Arena thought maybe if she searched the area of where she received her host maybe something would click. Hey it worked for some of the other ex-hosts down here. Anyway, Jamie refused to let her go alone, claimed he could play a soul with no problem. Problem is no one has seen them since and so I am banished to forever hiding my identity lest topside souls or humans alike discover me.

I often wonder about other soul children . . . are they like me? I have all the memories of my soul mother and none of my human's. Of course my host has no memories of its own—I'm so young, there really aren't any.

**AN: It is really short, I know. But, I needed to start somewhere. Can any of you guess the mystery?**


	41. Chapter 40

**AN: I know I took my time updating. But you guys took your time to review. In fact I'd like to thank my reviewers. Thank you to **gabby1** and **kayannemarie**. Did you guess who is speaking? If you couldn't, you will now.**

**I don't own anything. Enjoy.**

Ch 40

One morning I woke up and followed my usual routine, I woke my sister (Mira – short for Miracle), got dressed and we both headed out to breakfast. Before I went off to class with Sharon, I heard mother talking to my aunt in another corridor. I crept into a dark corner and listened carefully. I always loved eavesdropping on conversations. It was the only form of entertainment I could get regularly.

"Sunny, I heard Jeb wants us to go on another shopping trip." They stopped calling the supply run "a raid" a while ago. It really was like going shopping . . . or so I'm told. I never got to go.

"Again? Why is it you and I must go? Can't Melanie go this once?"

"You know she doesn't do those things anymore. She only leaves to search for Jamie." I crept a little closer. "She's never going to stop."

"Well Wanda he is her brother," my aunt stated.

"I know and I miss him too, but . . ."

"What?" Aunt Sunny whispered. "What do you think happened to him?" I never got a straight answer from my mother when I asked this. I think the idea of him being gone forever is too terrible for her. I could recall all my mother's memories and even some of my own vague ones, so I know how much he meant to her.

"Truthfully, I _hope_ he is hiding out. This planet is vast—not as big as the one with the see weeds but still. There are many lands out there not attached to this one he could be hiding in. Some place far with Arena. He would protect this community and the others and he's had a lot of practice behaving like a soul. It's just to be a way so long . . ." my mother trailed off.

Aunt Sunny lowered her voice still and I had to strain to hear. "You don't think he was caught and had an insertion?"

My mother was quiet for a few moments. "They don't do insertions on adults anymore, too many complications with the humans retaking control." Yeah just like with my mother and Aunt Melanie.

"But he was not an adult yet."

"He looked like one. Hard labor down here really develops a body, not that I would have firsthand experience." My mother really resented the delicateness of her host's body—not that she complained, but I could recall the difference of the two human hosts she experienced. I didn't sympathize though because she at least was an adult who could leave. She should try being a child. "He was well trained. He can't be discarded." I could just make out a tear glimmer down her cheek in the dim lighting of the overhead hole in the cave ceiling. "I thought about asking someone up there about him, but when I suggested it to Ian, he said not to because it would 'put him on the radar.' I never had a chance to ask what radar' was." I did. My dad became displeased. He realized I had listened in on his conversation with mother, but he told me anyway it was a tool used to detect things from far away. Obviously he couldn't have been inserted since we haven't been discovered.

"What about Arena?" Aunt Sunny pondered. "What do you think would happen to her if she was discovered? Another planet perhaps?"

"Possibly."

"Watcha doin'?" my sister called out. I must have leapt 3 feet into the air. I bumped my head on a jagged rock sticking out of the wall and let out a yelp. Tears began to form in my eyes and my mother and aunt came to see what was going on. I hated when I reacted like a child, but in this case I couldn't help it. There was blood.

"Mira scared me!" I cried holding onto my head.

"Oh, we better get you to Doc to heal this." She lifted me up into her arms and I held her feeling the comfort only my mother could give me.

She carried me through the tunnels until we got to the hospital wing. He wasn't there, but Candy was. I was placed on the cot while she collected the soul medications for healing.

"Born, what were you doing before you got scared?" my mother asked calmly.

I shrugged. I was no better at lying than my mother.

"Young man you better tell me or you won't get to play soccer with your father later," she threatened.

"I heard Aunt Sunny mention Uncle Jamie and I stopped to listen." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Um-hm. You know you're now late for Sharon's class," my mother informed me. Candy came over and gave me some _No Pain_ first. I loved this stuff. It always made my bumps and bruises feel so much better. And I got a lot living down here in a mostly dark cave. The painful sensation in my head quickly subsided the second the white tissue-like substance touched my tongue. She sprayed some _Clean _then _Heal_ and _Seal_, of course. The second I felt the light dusting of _Smooth_ I knew I was good as new and good get up. I made a mad dash for Sharon's class. I really disliked it when Sharon was upset and being late to her class _made_ her upset.

"Honey, please don't run or you'll get hurt and have to come back," I heard my mother call.

**AN: Well how was that? What do you guys think happened to Jamie?**


	42. Chapter 41

**A/N:** **I hope you all are enjoying the story. I wish someone would_ tell me_ they did. I really enjoy feedback so give it . . . please?**

**I don't own _The Host._**

Ch 41

A few days later the supply run was all planned out. I, too, had a plan. I was going to sneak onto the van. There is an exit passage in the hospital wing. I planned on using it to get out then make my way to the van's hidden cavern. I've been there a few times with dad, Uncle Kyle, and/or Jared when it was being returned there after a trip. It was the only time I was able to leave the cave and it was a treat. The sun would beat on my face and the sky would be so bright, even brighter than in the garden room. The vast expanse was endless. It always made me want to run and see how far I could go. But the adults would always warn me that it would be dangerous—even if I weren't who I was. The survival out in the desert sun alone without any supplies would be impossible.

I was supposed to stay with Lily when my parents and my aunt and uncle left, but I managed to sneak off when I told her I wanted to race to the Recreation room for playtime with the other kids. I slipped through the passageway and made it to the secret cavern just before my relatives. I hid behind the van. As they unlocked the doors, I slipped in undetected and curled behind one of the boxes left in there to help store the food and supplies.

The drive seemed to take a while until the van got to a flat road. After what felt like hours, they pulled up to a store. My mother went in first and then Aunt Sunny followed. I waited until they were both out of sight to exit the van. I had to use the bathroom. I walked around a little bit to try and find a place to go. When I got back, my dad had just slammed the back doors and was about to enter the van. I ran hoping I would catch up, but I wasn't fast enough and they took off.

I was about to panic when I notice a bus stop by the curb. I ran and got on unquestioned with the Souls who were waiting. The bus took off and was gaining on the van. I quickly took a seat against the window. Eventually the bus almost caught up with the van. Just as I was about to bang on the window to get my dad's attention, he turned to the right onto another road. I was completely abandoned, alone, and in an unknown town. My body ached with sorrow and I succumbed to a child-like behavior. My cries stirred the attention and the Souls aboard asked me what happened.

"I want to go home!" I wailed.

Though it was an unusual situation—obviously I had to be human to cry like that, they went to seek help for me. Unfortunately the help was in the form of dropping me at the nearest Seeker Station. I had no idea what to do now.

I was examined by a Healer. They discovered I was in good health with reflective eyes—good, but I had no insertion site—bad. My parents kept pushing off the procedure, deeming it unnecessary since I wasn't going to leave the cave anytime soon.

I overheard the Seekers call me an anomaly—how could I really be a Soul with no insertion? And my behavior was inconsistent with Soul behavior as well—I was crying. My soul-self knew that. Knew I could simply just ask for help and it would be given, just as _I _would help on instinct. But my human-self knew not to trust and I felt drawn to tears.

I was caught with no alternative, but to keep silent. The Seekers questioned me constantly telling me they could take me home if I would only cooperate. They needed information about me and the mystery of _what_ I was. They fed me and treated me well, but the Seekers doing the interrogation grew tired of my wordlessness so another two were brought in for a change of shift.

I was getting hopeless, saddened that my family won't ever find me. My parents didn't know I was missing and those that might know couldn't go searching for me until the van returned.

I kept my head down as the two new Seekers entered. I only noticed one's shoes in front of me as a sat quietly stoic.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" he asked in a non-threatening way. "We only want to help. Please allow us to."

I knew my eyes were going to betray me again if a looked up, so I stayed frozen in my positioning.

"Look at me child. It is rude to not look upon the Soul that addresses you." He lifted his hand to my chin and lifted it. I still kept my eyes down, but in its periphery I notice the Seeker in front of me was blond and there was another Seeker by the door with dark hair.

"I am Seeker Soft Claw on the Ice. I was told your eyes are like Soul eyes, but are you really human?"

I thought for a moment about the _Visions_. What if the Seekers realized those could be used to disguise Humans. I needed to admit I was _something_. "I am a Soul. And you are from the Mist Planet," I whispered as proof. I took a chance and lifted my eyes hoping my statement would be considered absolute with some eye contact.

"That is . . . correct."

I glanced over to the other Seeker by the door and took a gasp. He had a built frame due to hard labor and familiar black hair. "Uncle Jamie?" I murmured before I could catch myself.

The dark haired Seeker's face expressed shock. The blond one turned to him.

"Seeker James, do you know this child?" he questioned.

Still in shock he answered, "I've never seen this child in my life?" He took the few steps to me swiftly. He grabbed hold of my shoulders a little too roughly. "How do you know me?" he uttered with desperation. I could see the reflective surface of Soul eyes glaring into mine.

"Take it easy," the other Seeker stepped in. "He is but a child, Soul or not." Seeker Soft Claw turned to me. "He joined us with no human memories. Perhaps if you helped us retrieve his human memory, he could get you home."

I knew that was a bad idea. Uncle Jamie must have been caught. He, like Aunt Melanie, was strong enough to keep his memories of us safe.

"I can't help you. All I know is my host and his host knew each other. Nothing more," I lied.

"But you called him 'uncle' that means there must have been a familial bond."

"It was just a title of respect. My host was young during insertion. I don't have much to go on." I was as good at lying as my mother was, but as she discovered Souls were usually trusting.

"If you are really a soul, why do you not have a scar?" the blond Seeker queried.

I just shrugged. I felt the rare burning of anger for my parents' procrastination. Before I could come up with something, Seeker James spoke.

"Maybe the Healers had tried the new procedure on him, miniscule cutting techniques to minimize scarring."

"I've heard of no such techniques."

"You are not a Healer. I had tried out many different callings before I settled on this one," Seeker James justified.

"Why is it you have knowledge of various rationalizations and yet have none to explain your lack of human memory?"

The dark-haired Seeker turned to me with curious eyes. "Possibly this child has one?"

No matter how homesick I would become, I knew I couldn't allow this Seeker to help me home.

"I'm tired," thankful for once at my young age, "it is my bedtime."

The two Seekers nodded and I was led to another room which had a bed.

* * *

Later that night, I awoke to discover a dark figure shaking me. It was Seeker James. My human heart raced. I was terrified he came to find his lost memory. He slowly put his finger to his lips.

"Born with a Soul? Is that you?" he whispered. I was confused. I just gulped trying to not confirm his guess.

"You got so big," he smiled. "Where is your mom?"

I was joyful for a moment. Maybe Uncle Jamie took control. "I got separated from her. She's—" but I caught myself. This could have easily been a trick. The Seeker had to have some bits of human memory since he knew his host's name. Of course he would say I got bigger, I was only eight.

"I'm lost. I don't know where I am and have no idea where I need to go. You'll have to find your lost memory elsewhere," I responded.

The Seeker chuckled slightly. "That's what Jared taught me to say too. I haven't lost my memory. I'm still Jamie."

"Prove it," I requested.

He took out a cylinder from his pocket and flicked it on. His hand covered the bright light until it came up to his face. The light shown into each eye independently. There was no reflection, only the brown eyes of a human.

"Uncle Jamie!" I whispered excitedly. I grabbed hold of him in a tight hug. Again my eyes resorted to tears. I was alone to longer. My breath came out in gasps. "What are you doing here?"

**AN: So how do you like it? You guys need to review if you want me to continue. Why do you think Jamie was doing there?**


	43. Chapter 42

**AN: Sorry I hadn't updated in a while, but I wrote something and it took me forever to type it. Let me know what you think.**

**I don't own the Host — just the plot.**

Ch 42

"Uncle Jamie!" I whispered excitedly. I grabbed hold of him in a tight hug. Again my eyes resorted to tears. I was alone no longer. My breath came out in gasps. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a really long story. Not one I could really get into right now," he whispered returning a squeeze. He wiped my tears with his sleeve. "First things first, I need to figure out how to get you out of here undetected, which will be extremely difficult. You're an oddity they are very interested in. I want you to go to sleep now. Let me take care of everything."

I nodded finally feeling some hope that I might get home. I lay back down and he tucked me in. He put the light away and glanced at me. "How did you recognize me? You were so little when I left."

"I have all of Mother's memories." I hesitated before continuing. "Auntie Mel hasn't been the same. She really misses you."

It seemed like he was wiping his face. "Goodnight B." He turned to leave.

"Uncle Jamie?" I whispered. He paused. "I'm glad you're here."

He turned back. "Me too, kid." Then he opened the door, peeked from side to side and walked out.

The first thing Uncle Jamie had to do was figure out how to get me out. I was an oddity he knew they would be interested in.

He came up with a plan the next morning and came in early and told me to just play along; he'll do everything. The blonde Seeker joined us in my room after a quick moment later. He must've seen Uncle Jamie walk in.

"So Seeker James, how is your memory coming along?"

"Slowly. I barely make out images of my past," Uncle Jamie answered.

"Oh. But _some_ images are better than the blank canvas you had before, isn't it?"

"I don't know. It feels like when I'm about to release a sneeze, but then I lose it. It is very frustrating. I did recover a location, a building." Uncle Jamie looked at me. "Does it sound familiar?"

"Yes," I chimed. "I'm not sure where through. Could you describe the area so I could know if it is right?"

"Grassy, with a park close by."

"Yes! Yes that's home." I became excited. Of course I knew this was nowhere close to what a cave sounded like, but if I was going to be able to play in a park once in my life I was going to take it. "Are we going to go there soon? I miss my mom."

"Oh, of course you do. Perhaps we will be able to leave right after breakfast. We intend on investigating why your parents haven't sent out a search call with any local Seeker Station."

I could not believe how tasty breakfast could be when it was made fresh. It always was warmed from previously heated stones, so not to risk revealing our cave location with smoke, from the night cooking. I couldn't help practically inhaling all my food Uncle Jamie had to tap my back a few times to stop me from choking.

"It's good, huh?" he whispered.

"Yeah. I never knew scrambled eggs could be so fluffy."

"They mix it with milk. I remember having them once with your mother. It was so good. We hadn't had anything but soup and potatoes for a while and a group had just come back from a raid with food supplies. It tasted like the best thing I've ever tasted — and to be eating it beside my sister and Wanda made it the best time in the world. I felt like anything was possible in that moment." He took a breath. "I couldn't go back. Things happened and . . ."

We were interrupted by a dark skinned cheerful Seeker. "Hey you two." He said with a smile on his face. "I've never seen Seeker James so talkative. What's your name child?"

Uncle Jamie answered for me. "Flies without wings."

"Yeah, but people call me 'Flies,'" I finished. I was beginning to like this pretend thing. It was like a game. I could be anyone Uncle Jamie did the lying and I just had to follow along.

"Seeker Soft Claw, Seeker Johnson, and I — Seeker Long Sight as well as Seeker James is going to accompany you to find your home. Isn't that wonderful?"

No. "Just great," I said with a fake smile on my face. "I just hope Seeker James could figure out where to go. I'm still not sure on which direction."

We all headed out with Uncle Jamie at the wheel of a big car. It was kind of block shaped. I heard one Seeker call it a Hummer. Seeker Soft Claw was with Uncle Jamie and I, the other two Seekers took a separate car. The engines started and I felt an uncomfortable sensation in my stomach. Uncle Jamie drove in one direction with complete confidence. He took a long straight road and then a series of turns. He sped up and then slowed down. Soon I recognized the familiar location to which I had been left behind. We continued further down the road until a park came into view. Beside it I saw what only my mother's memory recognized as an apartment building. It wasn't even her memory it had been Aunt Mel's from when she had been caught. I shivered as I felt the awful feeling of impending doom. I just had to push it aside. I really had my own impending doom to deal with.

"I think this is it," Uncle Jamie claimed. I nodded in agreement. I was too nervous to speak; I was really in the dark in this plan.

Suddenly a few people ran up to the cars indicating Humans are in the area. They pointed in their direction and a new nervousness engulfed me. Had my parents been informed of my disappearance and are now searching in the first location they stopped in? I gave an apprehensive expression my uncle and he shook his head. He knew what I had been thinking. This must've been part of the plan. The other car went off in pursuit announcing to Uncle Jamie via some kind of communication devise to get me home without them. I gave a minor grin. We still had to be rid of Seeker Soft Claw.

Uncle Jamie got out of the car and the Seeker and I did the same. Uncle Jamie took my hand and led the way through the park toward the building entrance at the far end.

"Be a kid," he mumbled quietly.

The Seeker followed closely behind us glancing around at the soul children, possibly trying to spot humans. I thought questioningly at Uncle Jamie's words — _Be a kid?_ What did that mean? Does it mean he wants me to play or to have a tantrum? Either one would give away my _human _nature. The park was dotted with some children. A few were on swings others were running through what seemed like a path covered in objects to jump over or under. The kids were orderly and patient taking turns; very unlike the kids back home. There weren't any giggles or pure fun expressions like I'd witnessed human children have. Back in the cave the kids would be _playing_. Even I knew how to do that. These kids looked like they were going through the motions just for what my dad called _exercise._

I knew Uncle Jamie wanted me to do something, so I decided to play even if I would appear a bit human. I wouldn't get a chance like this again. The swings and slides were so inviting. Then it hit me I got to be like _these_ kids. I need to stall.

"Um, I missed my daily routine of park activity. Is it possible I could do a little?"

The two of them glanced at each other then Uncle Jamie smiled. "I don't see why not. You stay with him. I think I could spot his parents."

Seeker Soft Claw agreed and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming in excitement. I went on everything the park offered. I kept my expression of happiness minimal, but I was euphoric as the air blew across my face back and forth on a swing using a large truck tire.

Uncle Jamie came back announcing he had found my mom. Seeker Soft Claw walked over and whispered something in Uncle Jamie's ear. He glanced at me and nodded. He took my hand and we walked over altogether to the building entrance.

"She was surprised you were missing. The whole time she was under the impression you were sleeping over Many Legs's house. That's why there wasn't a report."

As we ascended the steps to another level, I was curious about who the woman was that claimed me as her own.

"Did she remember you?" Seeker Soft Claw asked.

"Slightly. I think I was her neighbor once. I asked if I could come over later to go over what she remembered and she invited me for dinner. I am planning to discuss the discrepancies of her child's behavior then, too. We don't want to over load her and ruin their reunion."

I caught on quickly. I'm going to stay with this woman until dinnertime then Uncle Jamie will come and get me. Great.

We walked through a squared off tunnel walled by many doors until Uncle Jamie stopped. He knocked. A woman opened the door and I was shocked at her resemblance to my dad. She had black long hair, tall and tan with striking blue eyes. As she moved I caught the reflection of light in her eyes. I could certainly have been this woman's son.

"Please don't lose him," my uncle uttered and she nodded with an encouraging smile. I took her hand and waved bye to the men.

I looked up curiously to this soul woman. "As your father may have told you, I run an alternative schooling program for some of the children in this building. Right now the rest of my students are outside for recess. Perhaps you would like to join them until I prepare the next lesson."

I nodded, thankful that Uncle Jamie was so clever.

**AN: So what did you guys think? I know it was pretty tame, but the action is yet to come.**


	44. Chapter 43

**AN: I know I should have updated earlier, but I'm doing it now. Let me know what you think.**

**I don't own the Host — just the plot.**

Ch 43

Later that day Uncle Jamie came to get me. I was so glad. The teacher began her lessons on soul planets and Earth History. I already knew about the planets having had Mother's memories of them. I listened intently and gave my input about what I knew—which was more than the teacher.

I didn't like the attention it got me. She asked about my mother and what planets she'd been on. I spoke carefully in past tense. I was the only Soul who still had a mother, an anamoly that I needed to keep to myself. I was so worried I'd slip up.

"How was class today?" Uncle Jamie asked.

"Less than fascinating. I actually preferred Sharon's lessons than to this teacher."

"That bad?"

"Yeah."

We were in his car driving a long time on the road. As cars passed us, I saw his eyes reflect. I still wasn't used to that. It made me wary. My Human senses told me not to trust Uncle Jamie's eyes. He had been absent a while and the Seeker was suspicious about me when he left.

"Uncle Jamie?" I said hesitantly.

"Yeah kiddo."

"Your eyes, it gets confusing seeing them reflect," I admitted.

"It's confusing seeing _yours_ reflect."

"James . . ."

He smiled for a second. "B I need to wear the _visions_ if I'm going to interact with Souls."

"I know, but I could never be sure it's you."

"Don't worry. I'm going to take you somewhere you won't have to worry about me."

"We aren't going home?"

"Not yet."

I began to question his identity again. "Could you just take one out? Just for a second, so I could see it is really you."

He smiled again, but this time there was a bit of a sinister glare. "You've lived way too long with Jared." There was a long pause and then he pulled over. He took out a bottled water from this hole on the side of the door. He opened the door and poured some water on his fingers. He pulled out a lens and showed it to me. "See?"

I grabbed his face and pointed it upward toward the light on the car ceiling. There was no reflection.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

"Yes. Sorry, I just had to check. You're the only one I have now and I need to be sure I could trust you. Why are you not taking me home?"

"I can't. I need to be around for a while to keep them off of my scent. If I take you home not only will they look for you, but they'll look for me. And I need to stay undercover for a little bit longer. I have a plan, but I also need you to be safe. There is a Human colony hidden in a containment center in Van Horn Rural. The town is so small that the humans were able to take control. The only way they could keep the control is if the Seekers don't know it was taken. We kept it a secret because there are Humans pretending to be Seekers covering it. You see Born it is the prisons, the jailhouses that are the safe havens. Souls expect humans to be there. Seekers bring humans to the containment centers to keep them until they could be disposed of. Seven years ago I helped free some humans with a Seeker named Arena's help, but what we should've done was take over the center. Some of those humans were captured again and so was Arena. They sent her away and discarded her body."

I couldn't believe what happened. "Arena's gone?" My expression gave away my remorse.

"I didn't realize you remembered her."

"No, I just know the stories. Is she the reason why you didn't come back?" He kept silent. "We all missed you, especially Aunt Mel."

"Melanie?"

"She hasn't been the same."

"I couldn't go back to my old life. I kept losing people I loved. I had to stop the cycle."

We were almost there. I could tell because of the lack of population evidence. When we pulled up to the gated building we had to go through several guarded entryways. Uncle Jamie had removed both his _visions_ before pulling up.

"What's that?" They asked pointing in my direction. They had the flashlight glance over me and I could see the distinct expression of detest my when my irises flashed.

"My nephew, sort of," Uncle Jamie uttered.

"Hey you know the rule — No family member sympathy. He's one of them and will _be_ one of them no matter what body he is disguised in."

"You don't understand," Uncle Jamie tried explaining. He pulled me close and turned my head to show them my neck. "He may be one of them, but he is also one of us. No insertion site, this body is his own."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I'll explain if you let me in. I need to talk to the leaders. He needs amnesty."

"No way! I can't let that thing in here. They act all nice and polite then they call the Seekers to come and pick you up. Kill 'em with kindness that their motto."

Uncle Jamie began to argue. "Who's he gonna call? He is alone with no possessions to call his own. A child, eight years old and I'm his family. I have a lot of experience with this. They can show loyalty to family members."

"Sure they can, as soon as they get you into their groupings."

"NOT this one!" Uncle Jamie took a deep sigh. "Look I was betrayed by my Dad, so I know what you mean and feel. But he was born here. He came from one soul that not only sympathized with humans she betrayed her own species to help me, to save me and save my community."

The guard still stood there unwaivered.

"Look, it is my neck if they get upset."

"No," the guard stated, "it is all our necks."

The guard pulled out this large rectangular object similar to the one the seekers used to communicate. "Hey sir, this is Larry by the outer gate. We have Jamie Stryder here with a 10-95."

"For real?" the voice answered back.

"Yeah. Please advise."

"Is it secure?"

"No sir. He claims it is a good one."

"I'll be there in a minute."

**AN: So I know you all have been waiting a while. I'm so sorry. What do think should happen now? Let me know. Review.**

**By the way 10-95 is a Prisoner/subject in custody **

**Great2read**


	45. Chapter 44

**AN: Okay, I was too excited and I couldn't wait until officially Friday-it's twenty to midnight. Thanks to those that care enough about my story to send my reviews and PM's of encouragement to continue. I write this for you.**

**I don't own **_**The Host**_**.**

Ch 44

A large man with two others came through the gate with large shot guns just like Jeb carries with him sometimes. We were ordered to "step out of the vehicle," with the guns pointed at me.

"Hey that really isn't necessary!" Uncle Jamie yelled.

"We will tell you what is necessary, James," the man answered.

We came out of Uncle Jamie's car and I was shaking. I was so scared they were going to shoot me I barely allowed myself to breathe. One of the guards lowered his weapon and approached me. He took out some metal linked object and attached it to my hand. He squeezed it around my right wrist so tight I let out a yelp. Drops of water fell from my face. I really didn't want to cry, but I didn't understand why Uncle Jamie would bring me here to be a prisoner. What did _**I**_ do wrong?

Uncle Jamie began to protest again. "You're hurting him! He's eight. What do you think he plans on doing? I doubt he'll be able to disarm let along use a weapon even if he was just a soul. Peace-loving beings, remember?"

The guard looked at me. I caught a little softening in his stare. He placed the other side of the metal object around his own wrist linking him to me.

"There now he can't run away and tell the other souls about us."

The other guard began feeling around my arms and legs while the large guy told Uncle Jamie to explain.

"His mother is a soul, yes, but his father is a rebel like us and a really tough and dangerous fellow. This boy's mother was placed into my sister."

"So he really is your nephew," the guard attached to me stated.

"No," Uncle Jamie corrected. "She taught us how to separate the souls from a host's body."

"What?" the large leader questioned.

"See she did it to give me my sister back. Now I'm not saying all souls are like Wanda, that's what we called her, she was definitely an exception, but not every soul will want to hurt us either. They tend to take on the host's memories and sometimes loyalties. The community I was a part of placed Wanda in another host. We didn't want to lose her."

"Wait. You guys took her out only to take another human host. Traitor!"

The guns pointed at Uncle Jamie now.

"No!" I screamed. I heard a gunshot, but I had no idea where it came from or what it hit. All I know is it gave enough of a distraction to allow Uncle Jamie a head start. He ran. Fast! One guard took off after him while another two got into a jeep and drove off. The guard attached to me pulled me into the building with the leader.

**[AN: Do you like it so far? I hope you do.]**

When I got inside, I was taken roughly through a large room with many smaller rooms with hanging beds in rows along the walls. I was taken to the end. There was a door labeled infirmary. I was shoved inside and placed on the bed. The metal object was removed and another man came inside.

"Hey Dr. Wilks, you have a patient."

"Who's this?" he quested.

"It's one of those aliens in a child. We need you to examine it," the leader requested. "See if you could find a way of removing it. James said there was a way. We need to find it." The leader and the guard stepped out of the room closing the door behind them. I started to shake again and my human eyes betrayed my age. I cried like a baby.

"Calm down, child. I'm not going to hurt you."

I still sobbed away. He stepped out of the room, but came back with some type of toy. It looked like a doll.

"This is my daughters. She's about your age. I'll show you what I'll do on the doll so you'll know I won't hurt you." I quieted down and watched him look at the eyes, ears, nose and throat of the doll with various odd looking tools. Some looked similar to Doc's instruments. He checked the doll's body under the clothes and he explained that he was checking for injuries.

"Can I examine you now?"

I swallowed. "Do you really have a daughter?" He nodded. "Could she be in the room?"

He looked shocked at the odd request. It had been in my experience in the caves that adults don't like to do harm in front of children. I was always asked to leave the room when someone came in seriously hurt and so were many of the others.

He turned and called outside the door, "Caroline!" A little girl entered the room after a minute. She had brown straight hair that was tied back into a ponytail. She seemed my height and she had dark brown eyes.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"I want you to sit here while I give this little boy a checkup. He is a little frightened of doctors and I think he needs to borrow some of your bravery."

"Okay." She picked up the doll from the table and sat in the far corner on a chair. Her clothes were slightly small on her, but it was not so noticeable.

The doctor first started with my eyes. The reflecting light caught the girl's attention at first, but the rest of me was unremarkable. I know this because I overheard the doctor say so to the leader.

"Besides the reflecting eyes there is nothing to announce he is a soul. His body is unremarkable, completely ordinary, except he is also _unmarked_."

"What does that mean?" the leader asked.

"I mean he has no scars whatsoever. No neck wounds for a Soul to get in, which means no way a Soul to get out. But also no wounds on his knees or arms, children play and get hurt. If he ever got hurt, he was patched up so well it was as if it never happened. If he isn't an alien he definitely lived with one. Only soul medicines could do that type of healing," the doctor explained.

I sat in my room by the infirmary with a door made of rods. _And_ I was locked in. I had no idea what was going to happen to me, if Uncle Jamie was okay, and if I was going to see my family again.

"Do you want to play?" The girl Caroline, was holding a box with red and black squares on it. "It's called checkers. It is a really fun game." I nodded my head.

She opened the box and pulled out this stiff flat red and black squared thing. She slid half of it under the door and handed me the black hard circles.

"The point of the game is to eliminate all your opponent's checker pieces by jumping over them and landing on the other side."

She showed me where to place my pieces and how they move. After a few minutes of playing, I lost a few games already, I began getting the hang of it.

"Why do your eyes do that thing when my dad flashed a light on them?" she asked unexpectedly.

I just shrugged.

"Are you like those things that want to hurt us?"

I shook my head. "I just want to go home," I whispered.

"Where's home?" she whispered back.

"I wish I knew. I was brought here for safety reasons, but I don't think my uncle thought it through. Humans can't be trusted."

She stood up abruptly. "What do you mean 'humans'? Aren't you a human?"

**AN: How has the story been? Please review. I want to know if you all like it.**


	46. Chapter 45

**AN: I'm so glad people like this story and bothered to tell me, like **noris251311, Nayleen, Scaevola2, naylizzlex3, Guest, Wadjett, isabelmeiser34, and WandalovesIan**. You guys are great.**

**I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. I meant to post this on Friday, but something came up and now I'm up late trying to get this to you all. I hope you appreciate it.**

**I don't own _The Host_. Sorry.**

Ch 45

_She stood up abruptly. "What do you mean 'humans'? Aren't _you_ a human?"_

I realized I had offended her and now I had a difficult question to answer. I got up from my place and drifted to the back of my room to the bed. I kept my eyes down and my mouth shut.

She turned around and ran off.

I suddenly felt extremely tired. I climbed into bed. After what felt like a minute, I awoke to several noises and voices. My eyes opened to so many people—humans. They passed me by, looking at me as if I were on display.

"It's in a child," one mumbled.

"Why are we keeping it here?" another asked.

I had this strange feeling I had been in this situation before. It was a little like being at the Seeker station, but more so I was a prisoner—just like my mother used to be.

A woman and Caroline came baring a tray of what I could only guess to be breakfast, some substance floating in a bowl of white liquid.

"Are you hungry?" Caroline asked. I nodded. "I'm sorry if this doesn't taste very good."

"Caroline!"

She turned toward the adult. "It doesn't. Can't we add some sugar, Mommy?"

"You know we ran out. There will be a drop off soon enough."

I carefully took the bowl and took a taste. I recognized the liquid as milk. We didn't have it too often down in the caves because it would turn bad, but when we would get some all the children would get the entire supply, like a big treat. I ate heartily and enjoyed the food. I didn't understand why Caroline thought it wouldn't taste good. It was fine to me.

During the course of the next few days I was let out sporadically under the watchful eye of the doctor for ten minutes at a time. I was given dirty looks and fearful glances by the surrounding crowd. The leader's name General Pete was a name given to him affectionately by his followers, but he wasn't an affectionate man—at least not to me. He constantly interrogated me on what I was, how I came to be, and how to remove a soul from its host. I kept tight-lipped every time and this resulted in numerous infirmary visits. Every night I would let out the tears I held onto during the day mourning my lost family.

"Why are you crying?" I heard a soft voice ask.

I halted my sobs. I couldn't let anyone see they were getting to me. When I looked at the kind voice, I recognized Caroline. She had been afraid to befriend me after her question on my human status.

"I miss my family."

"I asked about your uncle. They don't know where he is. My dad said that Gen. Pete thinks you're a new kind of alien. That you're inside a little boy's body to make us feel bad and not want to hurt you. But really you will bring others to take over. He is really scared of you."

I was completely shock by that. "_Scared of_ _me_? I'm just _me_."

"What's your name?" she whispered.

"Born."

"That's a strange name. Do you have a mom and dad or only an uncle?"

I approached the metal door and sat down. She followed the act. "I have a mom and dad, but I also have a sister and a few aunts and uncles. Where I lived, everyone was your family. But most of all, they really were. I'm not some foreign being. I was born in this body. I'm as human as anyone and as alien as the others. If that information will get me out of here, then you could go share it. I just want to go home." My face dropped to the ground to hide the salty water from her view.

She reached in and took hold of my hand. "I bet I could find the key." I looked up at her. _Was she serious?_

She got up and disappeared behind the infirmary door. She tip-toed back with a few keys in her tiny hands. She carefully tried each one as quietly as possible. When a key was wrong, she put it on the side to keep track it was wrong.

As she got to almost the last one there was a click. We swung the door opened.

"You're free."

There was a voice coming from the other side of the large room. "Caroline? Caroline, what are you doing?"

"Run!" she whisper yelled at me. I took off down the hall and up the steps to a closed area. It looked like some kind of storage room.

"Oh no!" I heard a female scream and then a loud alarm sounded off, echoing against the walls of my darkened hiding place. I covered my ears as the loudness rang through me. My heartbeat sped up with the realization of there was nowhere else to go. I crouched in the far corner hoping I won't be spotted. I had no idea what I was going to do now. I was loose, but not free. The alarm was turned off thankfully, but now I could hear the muted footfalls. My heart still beat like crazy and I tried to calm down with deep breaths. _If my heart beat any louder they'll hear it._ Flashlights flickered all around, searching for me. I kept myself in a tight ball knowing they were getting closer and I was going to be found.

My calming breaths were of no use and suddenly the light settled on me.

"There you are! Stay right there!"

I was caught! The man ran toward me and I bolted. He was faster and ran to the direction I was headed. I turned quickly not paying attention to what was directly in front of and _BAM!_ I bashed something with my face. I fell down hard and could feel some heated liquid trickling down from my forehead and from my nose.

"There is nowhere to run, kid. It will be better if you came quietly with me." I recognized the voice of the guard that put the metal link on me. "If you keep running, you might get seriously hurt. Look, you already are. I don't want to harm you."

"I just want to go home," I begged.

"I know. But we need you around to catch James."

"Why?"

"Look, just come with me. It would be better for everyone if you are not a threat on the loose," he suggested.

He walked slowly to me. My vision was blurred from the pain. I saw a fuzzy man with his hands extended out at the sides. I felt helpless and allowed my recapture.

"If you give me your hand, I won't use the hand cuffs." He clinked something metal. "Come on. I'll take you back to your cell. It'll be breakfast soon and we are expecting a food shipment this morning."

My tummy rumbled to the appetizing offer. He stood in front of me waiting. I really had no choice, but it was kind of him to make it appear as if I did. I took his hand and we headed downstairs._ So much for my escape._

I held my face with my other hand. I was in so much pain and I felt so much blood on me. He called out, "He's coming voluntarily. Put your guns away."

I was lead to the infirmary and helped to sit down on the table. The doctor had a wet cloth in his hand wiping away at my injury. I winced with each swipe. "Sorry, but you shouldn't have run."

When I was cleaned up, I still couldn't see. "Looks like whatever it was got you in the eyes. Not directly so, but the seems to be some bruising forming around the orbits."

"What?"

"You're not going to be able to see for a while."

He helped me to my room again and the door locked behind me with a loud clang. I wondered what happened to Caroline. I listened intently and I could hear someone reprimanding her a distance off.

I felt my way and crawled to my bed. I allowed my tears to run. It had been an awful day and it just started. I had gotten Caroline in trouble and I was being used as bait to catch my uncle. I had missed my Mother and Dad so much; I regretted ever wanting to be outside my rocky home. I even missed Mira.

The gate alarms signaled the arrival of the food. I could see fuzzy figures headed to rooms and doors slamming shut. I guess it was to give the illusion they were prisoners. The sound of grunting could only mean people were hauling in the boxes of food through the halls. The sounds rose in direction and seemed to go up to the room I had hidden in earlier. Unfamiliar shapes were helping in the storage.

The added help said their goodbyes as the gate alarms rang again. "New human recruitment," was said loudly through some kind of devise.

The shippers were escorted out quickly while new prisoners were brought in. They were placed in cells near the entry way. I wasn't able make out how many at that far a distance.

I assumed once the humans were sure the souls who brought the food were far enough away I heard the cell doors all unlock, including mine. The large shape of General Pete came to my door and slammed it shut again. "Not so fast!" he said as if I unlocked it myself. I retreated back to my bed, my back to him. I didn't like letting him see the fear on my face.

I could hear the new humans questioning their freedom. "You see here we humans have control. This is our safe haven from the aliens. They think we hold the humans until more of the aliens can be brought in from other worlds," General Pete explained. "Let me give you all a tour."

They walked around seeing different parts of the building. Loud voices too jumbled to hear individuals echoed all around. One voice I recognized came close to my cell. The kind guard brought me some food. From the smell of it it was scrambled eggs and some sweet fruity substance spread on bread. He left it by my door. I had lost my appetite.

"Who's this?" a female voice said outside my cell.

"Careful. He seems innocent because of his age, but don't be fooled. It is one of them," the general stated.

"Why are you keeping . . . _it_?" she questioned. I knew that voice. I turned around and sat up. I didn't know precisely who it was, but I scrambled out of bed quickly.

"Step back!" General Pete yelled and they shifted positions.

I still had tears rolling down my face from earlier and reached out to them blindly. "Help me."

"Eat your food." He kicked the tray into the cell. "Or you won't get any more."

"Hey over here," a male called out to another. "Look what they've got."

I rubbed at my eyes trying to focus. It was another familiar voice, someone from the caves. I was just about to squeal, when a flashlight shined in my face, revealing my reflective eyes. The brightness stung my irises and I flinched.

The new figure jumped back. "Ugh! What is THAT doing here? I thought we were supposed to be safe?" There was clear disgust in his tone. But this voice I definitely knew. _Dad?_

**AN: Well how do you like the turn of events? I would love to hear from you.**


	47. Chapter 46

**AN: Hey I know I took so long, but I had a weird block. I knew what I wanted to say I just couldn't figure on how to get it written out. Let me know what you think. Thanks to all who stuck with me.**

**I don't own **_**The Host**_**.**

Ch 46

That night I was awakened by a gentle shaking. "Hey kid. B, wake up," a voice whispered.

I opened my eyes to find a dark figure leaning over me. I rubbed at my eyes trying to focus, but things were still fuzzy.

"Son, are you okay?"

I was afraid to answer. If this person wasn't my dad, they would think I went crazy. Again my confusion led to tears. _I can't believe I became such a baby. _I shook my head. "I just want to go home."

"Well you're in luck kid." He hugged me.

"Dad?"

"Of course, who else could I be?"

"I can't see."

"What? What did those Bastards do to you?"

"Nothing. I was trying get away. I hid in this dark room upstairs, but I ran into something and hit my face. The doctor here said it was just some swelling and I'd get my vision back. If is all the same to you though, I would like Doc to cure me."

"Don't worry we've got a plan."

"We've? Who else is here?"

I felt several others touch my hand at the mention of their name. "Jared, Andy, Paige, Brent, and a few others outside."

"You all came to rescue me? How did you even know I was here?"

"Jamie."

I was jolted. "Jamie made it back? Was he okay? They shot at him and he ran. I was so scared." My eyes stung as the salty tears dropped. I wiped my face with my sleeve.

"He was fine when he showed up." That was Jared. "Mel is not letting out of her sights. He enlisted help from the Seekers so we plan to leave first thing in the morning. We want to be gone before they come to search for the humans."

I reached out to the blur that was my dad to get another hug. I didn't care if it showed weakness, I missed him. "Hey Dad, when you all arrived there was a loud scraping noise coming from the metals by the door. I didn't think anything by it, but that same noise was heard right before showing you around and General Pete held my door, commenting on my non-escape."

"A uniform locking mechanism. There was one like that in the other prison, too."

"You think Arena's code would work here Brent?"

"Worth a try."

They began formulating a plan to keep everyone in their cells to prevent unnecessary injuries. The most important part of the plan was I needed to pretend I didn't know them. If General Pete knew how important I was to them, he could use it against them.

* * *

**Ian's POV**

I wanted to hurt them for taking my son and almost severely injuring Jamie. But I had to think straight and not make any rash judgments or I wouldn't be any better than _them_. The plan was when morning came, Kyle and the others were supposed to take out the outside guards using _sleep_ at dawn. Jamie informed us that these humans were unfamiliar with Soul medicines, other than the _visions_ and they thought that was Jamie's doing. The alarms were supposed to go off, indicating new arrivals signaling the rescue team was in place. Hopefully everyone will be still in their cells as we locked them in and make our escape.

Right before dawn, Paige had located the controls for the locks and was in place. Andy got the keys for Born's cell door from the Doctor's office. We all grabbed something to eat from the Prison Mess Hall early and I got something for Born to eat. We didn't need hunger inhibiting our mission. I had a mother in very big need of seeing her son.

The alarms went off, but instead of announcing "new arrivals" it sounded something else.

"Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert!"

"Shit Kyle! What did you do?" I swore under my breath. Everyone was jumping out of bed. Some children were crying from the loud noise and panic.

"Everyone to your places," said a voice over a speaker.

I saw Paige had abandoned her station as the locks all set everyone in their cells. Andy and I stood idly by watching the commotion. Jared was nowhere to be found.

"What are you guys doing?" General Pete asked. "There are Seekers out there. We've been on watch since we got that kid. This place has to look legit. Head to one of the cells and stay there while I deal with them."

The three of us rushed off to find a place to watch the scene. Six heavy set tall men came in baring guns. General Pete greeted them.

"Welcome fellow Seekers. What can I do for you here in my holding station?"

"There has been word of humans in the area. You seem to have an extraordinary amount on hand, yet no location for new souls to be brought in for insertion. Is this a discarding station?"

I knew what he meant. Wanda told me they don't use adults anymore. The Seekers looked around and clearly children were visible. I began to worry. I wasn't sure how good General Pete was at playing Soul, but those Seekers came in armed, so they knew something was up.

"We were waiting for the next shipment of souls to come in. It has been a while and our communication systems have been tampered with."

"We know. We have been trying to get a hold of this containment location for some time. We feel it necessary to come out here, but then one of our Seekers were found out on the road alone and without his vehicle. The Seeker disappeared right after being rescued. This is the last location his vehicle's Global Positioning System was traced to before being disengaged."

General Pete began to fidget and I could tell he was breaking into a sweat. "Well as you could see everything here is under control. All cells are secure."

"If it is all the same to you, I have my men stationed outside and are coming in to relieve your men. We would like to debrief them are the whereabouts of this containment station."

The way this Seeker spoke his host must have been military. More Seekers entered through the entrance. The human guards were outnumbered. There was no way they could overtake this many Seekers.

"Where is Jared?" I whispered to Andy. "We need to get out."

Andy shook his head. "I saw him, but then he was gone."

"Believe," General Pete stated. "I have everything in my control." He signaled to the side and all the cells opened. Every man, woman, and child was running in different directions. The Seekers were not prepared for the sudden chaos. The humans began attacking the Seekers.

"Wait here," I called. I made a run for Born's cell. "B!"

"Dad!" I heard him yell. I took hold of his hand and pulled him onto my shoulder. I didn't want his impaired vision to hinder us.

I heard bullets flying and ducked down quickly. We crawled over to where I left the others. I saw Jared coming to them from a crawl space. He held a rifle. "Jared!"

"I found a way out follow me." That was Jared, always one step ahead of the rest of us. We continued to crawl out, keeping low to the ground. I could feel the whizzing of the ammo and encouraged my son to keep moving. My heart raced. Wanda would never get over her grief, if I didn't come back with Born. Neither would I.

"Hey wait for us!" someone behind me called. I was surprised I could make out the voice in the loudness. It was the doctor and his family. They had showed some compassion when toward Born when I asked about him yesterday. The doctor was fascinated by how his daughter explained what Born was. I stopped and helped them move by the walls. The doctor had two girls and a wife. The youngest, Caroline, was the one with the information.

When we finally made it out of the building, we ran over to the van already inside the gate. Jared stood guard with the rifle in case any Seekers send a shot our way. Two trucks were right outside the gate. The Seekers were all heading inside, too distracted by the human violence to notice a peaceful escape.

The van was empty, but then I saw the Seekers guarding the gate head towards us. I pulled Born behind me before realizing it was the rest of our team. We all climbed into our mode of transportation and yelled, "What happened?" Jared took the wheel and we were driving down the highway with no one following.

"We were about to take the guards when these trucks full of Seekers showed up. We stayed hidden and when we so what was happening, we just joined the Seekers as guards. We were already assuming Soul identities. They knew the humans were on the inside and as soon as they saw our eyes flash there were no questions," Kyle explained. "Who are they?" He pointed to the newest members of our group.

"The doctor here and his family were helping keep Born safe inside so I'm returning the favor."

"What's going to happen to the people inside?" the doctor asked.

"We don't know. We just came to get Born. We're very sorry, but we can't risk fighting the Seekers. It's a losing battle," I answered.

"You came for the child? Are you with James?"

"Yeah. When he got away, he flagged down a car and got back to his home. But he was undercover as a Seeker for some reason and in hopes of keeping them off his scent he needed to check in. Unfortunately, he still needed to explain his missing vehicle. They must have done a satellite check with a GPS which lead them to you guys. They were a lot faster than expected. I guess because it is so secluded out here the Seekers came prepared. As soon as he checked in with the Seekers he came to find us."

"Are you going to take back to his family?" the little girl quested.

"We are his family," Kyle answered.

"Caroline this is my Dad and my Uncle Kyle," Born pointed out with a smile. I introduced the rest since born couldn't really see them. We finally were heading back to our cave. Relief completely washed over me.

**AN: So how was it? Was it what you expected? Review with your responses.**


	48. Outtake

**AN: Hey there. I know you guys were expecting a chapter update, but I'm still trying to get the story out of my head. Until then, I hope an outtake would be satisfactory.**

**Outtake: Jamie's Escape/Return Home**

Jamie ran through the rough terrain of "Nowhere's-ville" under cover of darkness. He knew the guards would be coming after him. He didn't like the idea of leaving Born behind, but he had no choice – they fired on him. The only thing he knew was not everyone in the jailhouse was so quick to violence. They had been his new community since he lost Arena. Altogether the group had a plan to find salvation from the Souls who took over and were successful at finding a safe haven. But now, the safe haven was a danger. They had his nephew and he knew he needed to get him back. Jamie had had a taste of the family he missed and didn't want to lose that again.

Jamie had come up with a plan. First he needed to follow protocol — show up at the Seeker station in the morning. If the Seekers think he is missing, they will start an investigation and a search beginning from his last known whereabouts. That means they will eventually look where Born was dropped off and discover he is missing too. As soon as sun up, Jamie headed for the main road. He wore his _visions_ and walked hoping to find a Soul driving by to give him a ride.

His prayers were answered around 10:30 am. A Soul was riding his horse and gave a very thirsty Jamie a drink and a ride to the nearest gas station. He called his Seeker partner. Jamie knew he will need to explain how he came to be in the strange town, but he didn't care. He wanted Born back and the only way he could think of this happening was if he got some help from a more trustworthy source and right now souls were a better option.

"What happened? How did you get stranded so far south from your usual location?" Seeker Soft Claw questioned.

"I thought I spotted one of the humans on the way home driving a suspicious vehicle. I wanted to be sure so I didn't call it in. I discovered later this decision was a mistake. I didn't want to lose the truck so I neglected to give attention to my gas gauge. I caught up with the truck and checked the vehicle. The Soul driving it was making a late night extra delivery, because he was covering for his coworker who was missing his domestic partner. I was driving back when I noticed I was low on gas. I tried to use my communication devise, but I was out of range. Luckily, I located a place to sleep and as soon as I awoke made for a telephone."

Seeker Soft drove Jamie to a healing facility for fluid replacement and healing of minor injuries. Then back to the station for a full debriefing and determination of Jamie's vehicle location. Jamie asked later to have the rest of the day off since he walked a fairly long way before being discovered. His request was approved.

Once safely out of the Seekers attention, Jamie knew he needed to get real help for his nephew. He drove out to the desert leading to his old home. The means of transportation he chose wasn't equipped to cover its tracks, so he came as close as he could, parked and walked the rest while carrying several containers of water.

As soon as he was too close to the cave entrance, he was surrounded by humans that seemed to come from nowhere yet everywhere, some holding farm equipment as weapons.

"Hold still there!" a voice commanded.

"How did you find this place?" another voice yelled.

"I'm Jamie Stryder," he called back dropping his fluid containers and holding his bare arms out for all to see. A large being exited the cave holding a shotgun pointed at him. Many people made wary glances at each other. They came closer and the one Jamie recognized as Aaron turned him around and patted him down.

"Ya know they don't carry weapons," the shotgun holding Jeb said.

"Except when they are Seekers," Aaron reminded. He pulled out his flashlight and held Jamie's head to check his eyes.

"I'm wearing _visions_," Jamie explained as his eyes flashed a reflection. "Give me a second and I'll take them out."

One of the men ran back inside as Jamie poured some water onto his hands from his container. He slowly pulled out the lens.

"See," he said as he held it up. "I'm still Jamie."

The light flew across his line of sight once more proving Jamie's still human. Jeb's shotgun slipped down slowly as his uncle came near him.

"Boy, where have you been? We've all been worried sick."

Suddenly a female body hit Jamie like a brick. Melanie wrapped her arms around him allowing no ability for air to enter his lungs.

"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie," she kept repeating. Mel wasn't the type to cry, but tears streamed out carelessly. It was her love for him and Jared that kept her strong when inhabited by Wanda. And it poured through her into the good Soul to be able to find him. A love like that never recedes.

Other bodies joined in, first Jared then Jeb and Aaron, even Sharon and Maggie. Lilly stood on the side watching. They all couldn't believe he survived this long on top as a human. They went inside and he gave a quick recap of the situation with Born.

"It was my fault he got out. I was supposed to be watching him," Lilly confessed.

"It's been frantic here. We've been combing the area for him. We were hoping he was with his parents, but we didn't have a way of contacting them. They'll be back in a day or two," Sharon explained. Mel was holding Jamie's hand.

"We need a plan to rescue Born," Jared decided. "But should we wait for Ian and the others to come back or do you think there is no time?"

"I think maybe we wait a day for Ian and Wanda, but any plan you come up with I can't be part of. They'll be looking for me, thinking I'm a traitorous soul that knows their secret. Your best bet, go in human."

**AN: Well what do you think?**


	49. sorry- Author Note

This isn't an update so sorry, but I would like to inform you all that an update has been hand written for some time. I just can't find my notebook. Alas, I gave up and since the story is still in my head I'll have to write it over. Hopefully it will come out better. Look forward to your reviews.

g2r


	50. Chapter 47 Part 5: New Arrival

**AN: Sorry I took so long. Here's another chapter. I hope you like it and please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. I'm typing this at 3:22 in the morning.  
All hale it to the author who got our imagination going with her fine story. I only own my plot; Stephenie owns the characters.**

Ch 47

**Wanda's POV**

I was nervous and couldn't sit still. It had been a whole day and half since Ian and the others left to find Born. I knew the rescue was going to be tricky – human against human was never a good thing. They were all supposed to be family, helping each other survive since _my kind_ took over this planet. But these humans had my son, and Ian and Kyle didn't care what _their kind_ was — Born was their _blood_, their _real_ family and they had lost enough of those. He was worth protecting above all cost. The two wasted no time, along with Jared, to come up with a rescue plan. They conferred with Jamie about the building's layout and the type of humans that lived there. I expressed my concern about humans getting hurt and Ian assured me they were going to plan it out for a peaceful escape. According to Jamie, these humans had secluded themselves inside this structure playing out as a Containment Center so more humans could be brought in by Seekers until souls could be inserted. Jamie was helping the humans under the disguise of a Seeker himself.

It was another 24 hours when I heard the sounds of people coming up the entryway. I stationed myself there, organizing the supplies in the storage area, because none of the other humans here would let me do any physical labor and I needed to busy myself somehow. Mira was off playing with the other children. I came at a quick pace, so not to trip, to the main garden cave where everyone gathered to greet them in the brightness of the sun-illuminated cave. I couldn't get a good look at any of them buried amongst the crowd, but gratefully I could see Born. He was sitting on top of who I assumed was his father's shoulders. He looked unharmed and I was so overjoyed, I "excused me'd" myself through the pack of humans to my loved ones. Born with a Soul was laughing and bending over to touch the people in greeting.

"Born!" I called out and reached for him. I needed to hug my first born.

"Mother!" he responded and reached out in my general direction as if to find me. "I missed you so much!"

I pulled him carefully off his dad and into my arms. My worried human heart calmed for a moment, before I came to a realization. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

"His face had an unfortunate incident with what I believe was the storage container during a fumbled escape. There's just a bit of swelling around is nose and eyes," a blonde man I didn't know said. "But, I'm not sure why his vision is still blurry." He was unknotting a blindfold from around his neck. There were a few other unknown humans doing the same, two women and a little girl. "I was the doctor at the facility and this is my wife Jenna and my two daughters, Madeline and Caroline."

The child spoke up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you all were coming and Born wanted to go home so badly. I only wanted to help him get out. I didn't know he was going to get hurt."

I bent down to her eye level. "Thank you for trying."

"Hey Wanda, if you could take Born with a Soul to the hospital wing, I'm sure we could fix him right up."

I looked up to Doc's voice and heard the gasps from the newcomers as my eyes reflected the sun's rays from above. "That would be great, Doc."

"Mom did you see that? She's one of _them_."

"Shh Maddy," the man muttered. "It is obvious she is not like the others."

"She certainly isn't."

"James!" they breathed out in relief.

The doctor greeted him first. "We're so glad you're okay." The daughters hugged him.

"I'm perfectly fine. I got away with only minor cuts and scrapes," Jamie dismissed, but I remembered all too well how a minor injury almost took Jamie's life. I joined them in the hug causing the elder girl to let go.

Born climbed onto Jamie. "Uncle Jamie, could you carry me off to the hospital?"

"Sure enough, kid."

I was surprised at how easily Born with a Soul took to Jamie. When Mira first saw Jamie, she was in awe.

_I sat in the kitchen staring at my food. I couldn't eat a bite. I was torn between emotions. Here I was happy to be back in the caves finding out Jamie was back, but my oldest was missing. I stood up from my seat and walked off with Mira to give her a bath._

"_Mommy, when is Daddy coming back?"_

"_I don't know, honey. Soon I hope."_

_She stopped and lifted her arms up to me. "Please?" she asked wanting to be carried. I bent down and lifted her into my arms. My embrace was too tight for a moment, giving my child a hug that I needed to hold me together._

_I walked back from the rivers with my second child clean and me half-drenched from her splashing. I heard Jamie's approach when we got up to the bright caves. _

_Miracle hid behind my legs sneaking peeks at him. He noticed her shyness._

"_Who's that?" he asked me._

"_Miracle. We call her Mira for short. She's my daughter."_

"_She's beautiful. How many do you have?"_

"_Just the two." I picked her up and held her in my arms. The thought of Born still out there with those terrifying humans ran through my head. I squeezed Mira slightly for comfort._

_His attention focused on her face. "She's human. No more antennae worth sparing?"_

_I smiled. "No they took me out for the birth. I have a long memory. I could remember all those planets I've lived on, all those lives. So the pain of reproducing on this planet, I won't ever forget. I now know why my kind only does it _once_."_

"_But I thought what happened to you was not the usual. I remember Dr. __Jeffrey said the situation was unique."_

"_But that didn't mean _I_ couldn't do it again."_

_He looked back at Mira. She responded with questioning eyes. She heard stories about him—the uncle she never got to know, but now he stood in front of her. "How old are you?"_

_She gasped and looked at me before answering. "Four."_

"_You're sort of a celebrity," I commented to him. "You have no idea how many times the two of them asked to hear about you, especially Born. I imagine it would be like discovering one of your human fairy tales was real."_

I followed Jamie and Born with Ian and Doc trailing behind me. Candy was already there.

"Hey Candy, we have a patient. Hand me the optomoscope we were working on. I think we should try it on B here," Doc uttered.

She went to the makeshift table that had many instruments on it. There were pieces of objects different sizes made of glass and metal. Doc looked carefully at Born's face and went to get some of the soul medicines.

Candy attached some pieces together. "I hope this works. It will make it a lot easier to examine soul eyes," she said. She came over to Born. "Hold still. I'm going to shine a light into your eye. Try not to blink. It will be bright."

She put the instrument to her eye and pointed it close to Born's. Then she looked in the other eye. I had to turn my face from how bright it was. "There is something in his eye, a piece of something. The lens looks scratched up."

"That would explain his blurred vision," Doc informed. "Is it in both?"

"Yes. We need to remove them before we could heal it." She turned off the light.

Doc walked over to his instrument table. He rubbed his hands together as his usual routine and picked up a long silver object I didn't recognize. I had full confidence in him, but my human stomach churned with nervousness. He walked over to Born. "He needs to lie down."

We put Born on a cot. Ian took out the _No pain_ and placed one strip on his son's tongue. "We will be right here."

Candy whispered something in Doc's ear.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he said back. "Wanda, we are going to put B to sleep while we do this procedure, if that will be okay with you. Human reflex will cause him to flinch if he sees something coming at his eye."

I thought about it for a second. There had to be a better way of doing this. Healers weren't that invasive, but Candy was a Healer. If she agreed, this had to be done. "Do whatever you need to Doc." The mist floated over Born with a Soul's head and he took a deep breath. He yawned once and his eyelids drifted closed. The medicines were lined up beside him and Doc was about to start.

"I can't watch this," I said to Ian. My eyes stung as I imagined what was about to happen.

"I'll stay. You go take a walk." Ian kissed my forehead and nudged me toward the exit.

**AN: So what do you think? I have great news. Only half of this is new material. Once I gave up on my search, I finally found my notebook. Go figure. Read & review.**

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	51. Chapter 48

**AN: Here's another chapter enjoy. Sorry it took so long, but I was trying to connect ideas in my head and I was trying to word it properly. **

**Mistakes are all mine, but the characters are not.**

Ch. 48

"It's amazing," the doctor said. I soon learned he was named Dr. Carl Wilkes. He was staring at my son playing in the field with Mira and his daughter. "It's like it hadn't occurred. There isn't any bruising on his face and his vision is perfect."

As my son turned his head, I noticed the brand new scar on the back of his neck. "Doc and Candy are very good at their calling," I responded. I was carrying water to those working on the field.

He started digging again. "Next time I should like to observe."

"I'm sure if you asked, they wouldn't mind."

"These Soul doctors must be very kind to help out humans."

"Oh no. Both Doc and Candy are human." I passed one bottle to Ian.

"Thanks Honey." Ian kissed my cheek and I felt my face warm up. My host was still a bit shy showing affection around new people.

Doctor Wilkes paused. "I don't understand. How could _humans_ know how to do such miraculous healing?"

Ian and I glanced at each other. "Though this is an all human community, we do have some exceptions — me, my son, and one other. We souls are not evil people by nature. I simply walked into a healing facility and asked."

"Really? Did you simply _ask_ how to remove a Soul from a human too?"

I gasped. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Almost all the humans here have insertions scars." He gestured around. "Someone must have removed the Souls from them."

"No, they are just to help us camouflage. Having one of those and an even temper any human could walk into a store undetected, pick up some food and simply leave," Ian remarked. "It works out best for everyone. We all get a chance to leave with no anxiety of danger."

"And the Souls they interact with don't get hurt either. Before having those scars, a human and soul meeting was always _violent_. This way is better," I explained.

"So when General Pete at the Containment Center told me that James mentioned a way to remove a soul, he was lying."

"Y-yeah," I uttered badly.

"You're a really bad liar."

"Leave her alone," Ian said in my defense.

"I just want to know if it is possible. I had a lot of friends back in that center. If any of them survived and received an insertion . . ."

"If you had so many friends, why did you leave them?" Ian asked with distaste.

"My family comes first," the doctor said defiantly. "I wanted them to be safe and following you out was a sure enough way." I worried this conversation was getting loud, but Dr. Wilkes's face softened a little. "Besides, I figured if you came to rescue your son, you must know how to get to James."

"Why?" I questioned.

"Madeline used to get nightmares all the time. They were horrible. She would also scream in her sleep—night terrors. General Pete just got a hold on the Containment Center, but everyone was afraid the Seekers would come, that we were all sitting ducks in there and her screams didn't help. Then 'Seeker' James showed up with more humans, only he was human himself and made sure to keep the real Seekers off our backs. He showed General Pete how to keep us off the radar and gave us those special lenses for our eyes so the souls wouldn't realize we were human. He made her feel safe. He made everyone feel safe. I didn't want her to have nightmares again."

We looked over at Jamie showing Madeline how to use the shovel to turn over the dirt. There was a small smile on her face as she mimicked his demonstration. Sweat dripped off her brow and Jamie wiped it away. It appeared he gave her a compliment as he lifted his own shovel to help her out.

"James is really great for my Maddy. He brought her hope," the doctor declared. He looked over at me. "So if my friends have Souls put in them, could you get them out?"

I lowered my eyes. I needed to break it to him gently. "Dr. Wilkes . . ."

"Call me Carl."

"Carl. Human will is very strong. Many adult humans tend to resist the souls that are inserted, especially if they were part of a rebel camp. Healers don't put souls in adults anymore. They are just discarded. There are exceptions, but only if they need the information, the memories of a particular human and it's a Seeker that they would temporarily put in."

He started shaking his head. "No."

"I'm sorry."

"We just . . . left them."

"Some could've escaped," Ian said. "If we did, they might have."

I patted Carl's shoulder. "At least you have your family. A lot of the humans here escaped with less than that. They needed to start life here over. You are considered one of the lucky ones."

Dr. Wilkes's face expressed his sorrow, but he walked off to his daughter and gave her a hug.

. . .

Days passed and I rarely saw Madeline away from Jamie's side. She appeared to be taken with him. He helped her get the hang of her chores. At first it seemed like she did not understand the method of turning the soil — she kept asking him to do the steps over, but then I noticed at how her gaze shifted from looking at the ground to looking at Jamie, in particular his back, chest, and arm muscles flex and stretch. I peeked a few times, though I knew it was rude, watching their interaction. When Jamie caught her once, he redirected her focus and subconsciously turned to me. Noticing our eyes met he rolled his, but then he smiled.

It was easy to see why she liked him, gone now was the boy who was on the cusp of manhood. Jamie was an adult, built like other human men down here from the hard labor resembling the man he always wanted to be — Jared.

"Jamie?" I asked once at breakfast when Madeline hadn't woken up yet. "What do you think about Madeline?"

"What about her?" His eyes stayed down as he shoveled scrambled eggs down his throat. Born sat at my other side mimicking his uncle.

"It looks like she is fond of you." I turned to my child and stopped his fork. "Finish chewing first."

"So?" Jamie said indifferently. _That _drew back my attention.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I think . . . who cares? She has a crush. I'm sure it will pass. We are all stuck down here. Eventually she'll tire of me just like the others and move on to someone else."

"Don't you like her?" I asked sympathetically. "You don't have to give up so easily."

His eyes turned to meet mine. They were hard, not like the Jamie I knew. "Not you too! As far as you and Melanie go, I can make my own decisions—and I'm not interested. Not in her and not in anyone." He got up taking his eggs with him.

"Why did Uncle Jamie get so angry?" Born questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders not wanting to explain to Born about Jamie's history with girlfriends.

"Is it because Maddy won't leave him alone?" I looked at my son with wonderment at his observational skills. "Those Wilkes girls are pretty clingy."

"Young man, who taught you to speak like that?"

"Uncle Jamie. He said it because Caroline follows me like Maddy follows him. Only, I don't mind it so much. She's a lot better company than Mira."

"Born, what did I tell you about your sister?" I lectured gently.

"She looks up to me," he answered without thought.

"That's right."

"But Mother sometimes she's just so _human_. She grabs things and she never wants to share. She won't wait her turn and cries from the silliest things."

"And Caroline doesn't act like that?" I quested.

"No. She's kind and always tries to be helpful, just like you."

"Well, I've never been paid a better compliment."

**AN: Review please.**


	52. Chapter 49

**AN: Hey guys. So did you think I forgot you?**

**Don't own a thing, blah, blah. You know the gist of it.**

Ch 49

Weeks went by and even though Jamie claimed he had no interest in Madeline, he tolerated her. She followed his chore schedule, not minding if it didn't coordinate each time with the rest of her family. If Jamie was there, she didn't care. Even when I or Sunny were included in the chores, she stuck to Jamie's side.

I was finishing up in the kitchen and prepared to take out the food for the early dinner crowd. I sat down with Sunny waiting for the rest of my family to join us.

"I wonder what is taking the boys so long," Sunny pondered. "I get nervous when Sebastian is out of my sight. He promised to help irrigate the field today and Kyle wasn't on that chore duty. Look at me. I'm shaking from the worry."

"Why? He has been behaving himself lately. Besides, Born is on the same chore duty. He'll keep him in line."

Suddenly, there were masses of people coming to sit that looked a lot more filthy than usual, some with sour expressions. Born came running in soaked with dirt and water with his soaked six-year-old cousin on his tail.

"It's not my fault!" my son claimed. "He did it." His finger pointed straight at Sebastian.

"Did not! You splashed me first!" he yelled back.

"I told you it was an accident and I said sorry."

"Well then, _sorry_ . . ." he stretched it out, "about the mud."

"Hold up," I interrupted. "What mud? What are you two talking about?"

Born with a Soul looked up at me remorsefully. "We were pulling out the hoses with everyone else and Sebastian was hooking them up together. I thought he was through and I went to turn the water on. It squirted him for a moment, but I shut it off right away. I apologized and turned to get him something to dry off. That's when he threw the mud."

"Sebastian O'Hare," Sunny enunciated. "You threw mud at your cousin?"

"No. I missed."

"Yeah, but some of it hit Uncle Jamie's neck. He turned to see who threw it and thought it was Maddy. He yelled at her to stop playing childish games. She said she wasn't. They started to argue and I was going to tell him it was really Sebastian . . ."

"But then she took the mud and squished it on top of his head. It was so funny," Sebastian giggled.

"You're so human," Born uttered to him. "Didn't you see how angry Uncle Jamie was?"

"Oh yeah? If he was so angry, why did he take the hose and start shooting her with water?"

"Mother, it was terrible," Born directed at me. "She squirted him back and I don't know; everyone was shooting water everywhere."

"It was great!" Sebastian admitted. "I've never had so much fun doing chores. Even Born was laughing."

Born continued, "But then Uncle Jeb came in and shut the water. He complained about the soil getting over soaked."

"People started getting their stuff to go, but we didn't see Jamie get up."

"We looked around and saw he was on the ground kissing Maddy."

"It was gross," Sebastian added.

Sunny and I looked at each other.

. . .

After a few days, I became aware of something. Jamie would change chores on short notice, disappear unexpectedly, and he'd never be where he said he would be. It was beginning to bother the other humans here. I took it upon myself to speak to him about it, but I could never find him.

One night after one of my night-time kitchen stories from the Mist Planet, I saw Madeline listening in the corner. She usually is nowhere to be found either and never attended one of my lessons. I approached her carefully.

"Madeline," I said softly.

She gasped and shifted her eyes to the humans still in the kitchen.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you something."

She squeaked and ran off. I lost sight of her quickly in the darkness of the tunnel.

"She is still terrified of you, huh?"

I turned around. "Melanie?" She was leaning against the cave wall with her arms crossed.

"Yes. I forget sometimes. The humans here are used to me and the souls up there think I'm one of them."

"You are one of them," she smirked. "Give her time. Remember the story of the boiled frog."

"Yeah. I never did find out which one I was. Anyway, I wanted to ask her about Jamie. To see if she could tell him to stay put and to stop disappearing with him during the day."

"What? She's going off with Jamie?"

I nodded. "That's what I thought."

Mel's expression changed to what I recognized as confusion. "Huh?"

In the morning Mel walked over to the counter where Maddy was serving up breakfast with her mother.

"Where's Jamie?"

"I – I don't know. Why are you asking me?" she retorted in a rude manner.

"I thought you two were always together," she snapped back.

Maddy's face shifted downward. "He's been avoiding me, leaving whenever I show up somewhere."

That explained Jamie's disappearing act, but not the reason. A moment later I heard Jamie come in with Born with a Soul.

He looked up at Madeline. "I'm not hungry," I heard him say.

"But Uncle Jamie, they are serving up our favorite."

Jamie turned to leave and I went after him.

"Jamie, what happened? Why are you avoiding Maddy?"

"You wouldn't understand; it's a human thing."

"I'm human; explain it to me." Mel had caught up to us.

He slowed his pace to a halt and we stared at him in the almost darkness. "We . . . But it was wrong. I don't like her that way."

I _was_ confused and looked to Mel for clarification. Her face contorted to show disgust.

"Jamie! How could you to that poor girl," she yelled.

I still didn't understand.

"You're not my _mother_ and I _am_ an adult. I don't have to answer to you."

"But I _am_ your older sister and A GIRL! How could you sleep with her with no intention of any interest in her?" Mel asked.

It felt like the tunnel suddenly brightened. "Ooh. Yeah, Jamie?"

"I told you; I don't have to answer to you. _Either one_ _of you_." He stomped off toward the main garden.

Melanie stared at me. "What?" I questioned.

"With an attitude like that, it isn't a wonder why the Souls came thinking they could better our world," she commented. "Sometimes I wonder if we could implant you into a few men's brains and then remove you and put you into a few girls just so we could know how they really think."

"Sure and while I'm at it, I could erase a few people's minds."

"There is that dry sarcasm you used to have when you were in me. I thought you lost it?"

"I didn't need it," I explained. "I think we should give him some space. It looks like he really feels bad about it."

"I guess you are right. I just wish he could just be happy."

**AN: Sorry this took so long. What do you guys think? R&R.**

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	53. Chapter 50

**AN: This is the material that was written in my lost/found notebook. The chapters in between chapter 47 and now were not handwritten. That's why they were not regularly updated. So the next few posts should be regular. I hope you like them.**

**Plot mine — nothing else.**

**Ch 50**

Every so often one of us goes out to check if any of the other rebel human groups we keep in touch with left a message for us and/or leave, if necessary, one for them. Andy found one on his last outing and we decided to organize a small supply run at the same time.

"Max's group is closer to the city. We need some more toiletry items," Sharon suggested. "The kids complain about the soaps burning their eyes. It is scary enough for them to be in almost pitch black during bathing, but they all refuse to shut their eyes to close off the what little light they could see."

"I agree," Trudy averred. "The detergents are causing harm to the younger ones."

"So who should go?" I asked.

"You mean who _else_ should go; you, Mel and Sunny always go," Jamie commented.

"Actually Jamie, it's not that way anymore."

"Yeah. Since you went MIA—" Ian started.

"I'm sorry, MIA?" I asked.

"Missing in action," he clarified. "Melanie hadn't gone on any supply runs and Wanda and Sunny prefer to limit their time away from their kids. Besides we've all got _Visions,_ so we can alternate."

"Well Wanda was the one they requested," Andy reminded us.

"So Wanda and I will meet Max—"

"NO," I interrupted.

"Wanda?"

"I'm sorry Ian, but one of us has to stay. Born with a Soul got out last time, because we both were gone."

"It's okay Wanda. I'll watch the kids," Jamie offered. "I missed so much when I was away. I didn't get to fully enjoy being fun Uncle Jamie yet."

"Sunny and I will do the supply run," Kyle suggested. He turned to her, "You need a break from Sebastian."

"I do not. Why would you say that?"

"Honey, you try to be firm with him, but you are just too nice and then you feel taken advantage of. He's making you stressed. I'm sure it will be only a couple of days. He'll be with his cousins."

"Okay, if you're sure it will be short."

I saw Ian pull Jamie to the side. "You should talk to Maddy. I don't know what's going on, but it has upset Wanda and Mel. This cave home will begin to feel really small if you keep avoiding her and the two of them can't take it if you leave again."

He nodded.

-0-

Once we were in the town set for the meeting, we split up. Kyle and Sunny took the van, of course and Ian and I headed off on foot. It wasn't supposed to be far, but the directions left to get to the spot weren't . . . _direct_. It appeared the humans were taking additional precautions so we wouldn't be followed, but I worried it made us look too cautious. This was the way I remembered Mel used to travel when she was hiding with Jamie. We finally came up to the alley and two unfamiliar men approached from behind a truck.

A light flashed across our faces, too late to hide our eyes. Ian and I glanced at each other, not knowing which of us was actually in danger. Ian stepped in front of me. "What do you want?" his voice harsh.

"Take it easy," one said calmly. He used the light to reveal they too were human. "We were only checking. We come with a message from Max. I'm Darren and this is Carlos. Is that Wanda?"

Ian nodded once.

"There is a rumor that the Seekers discovered a group of possible souls helping the humans. They figure that's how the human camps have been getting so large. They just raided a prison filled to the brim with humans."

I took hold of Ian's hand from behind, knowing exactly which human camp they were talking about.

"The Seekers have taken extra precautions on the south side of the city. They also heard about humans in our area impersonating souls. Your groups have to be on mark so not to slip in their disguises. We've been trying to warn as many 'friendly' rebel camps as we could."

"Right. Is that it?" Ian uttered still keeping himself ahead of me for protection.

"We've also discovered some hostile loners. They aren't trusting of 'helping' souls and wouldn't wait for you to explain Wanda or for you to remove your disguise to prove you're really not a soul yourself," Carlos mentioned. "That's why Max isn't here himself. He got hurt by one."

"There is one more thing, there is this _soul_—" Darren paused and looked at his friend. Carlos went toward the truck and opened the back door. He pulled out a young girl with her hands tied in front. Her mouth wasn't bound, which was unusual for kidnapped souls. It was obvious they wanted us to remove the soul. We never gave up the secret of the separation, because I could only trust _my_ humans to not harm the souls and get them safe passage to another distant planet.

"Who is she?" I asked, stepping around Ian.

"We don't know," Carlos answered. "She was sneaking around following us while we went through the store collecting supplies. She doesn't say a word. We figured you would know what to do with her. We're not sure if she has any ties to anyone."

She seemed so young. I came closer and she lifted her downcast eyes to me.

"Wanda? Are you Wanda?" her voice was low.

I was surprised and looked at Ian. He shrugged his shoulders. I turned back and nodded.

A small smile lifted her cheeks. "I found you."

"Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"Careful Wanda. She could be a Seeker," Ian warned.

"I'm not a Seeker." Her voice was harsh for a whisper. Her face showed anger and disgust.

I was a bit confused. "Okay."

"She said only you would understand. She said to talk to no one else."

"Who?" Ian asked as he took a step forward.

The girl looked at him and trembled. Her expression became fearful.

I took Ian's hand. "You're scaring her." I added an extra gentle tone as I addressed her again. "What's your name?"

"Luna," she whispered. "I was named after Earth's moon."

"Named? You didn't choose one for yourself?"

"I was given a choice later, but I liked 'Luna.'"

I smiled remembering how I received the name "Wanderer" as well. "It's a very pretty name. Where did you come from?"

The young soul looked left and right. "We're out in the open. She's going to find me."

"Who?" I asked this time.

"This Seeker." I began to understand her disgusted tone. "She asked me questions, but I didn't know the answers. She told me to run away. To find you." She kept darting her eyes around.

"A Seeker told you to find me?" My heart picked up speed with fear.

"No," she shook her head frantically.

"Then who?" Ian demanded again.

Luna put her palm, still attached by the wrists to the other hand, against her forehead and squinted her eyes. Her jaw became tight. "I . . . I can't remember. I try, but I can't."

"Look, if she's a fugitive, we're all at risk here talking to her," Darren suggested. "Get in the truck and we'll drive you to your rendezvous with the others."

We all climbed into the truck and drove off. I unknotted Luna's hands.

"That should be better."

She rubbed at her wrists. "Thank you." She placed her juvenile hand in mine. "You won't let them hurt me, will you Wanda?" she whispered.

"Who?" I whispered back. I was getting tired of this guessing game.

I could just make out her chin pointing in the dim light. "The humans. My mother said to beware. She said they would want me, but I needed to find you and this was the only way."

I was still worried about this Seeker she talked about and glanced out the back window to see if we were being followed. "Where's your mother now?"

"Gone." That directed my attention to her. "My father too." Tears began to stream down her face. The mother in me could only hold back so much. I put my arm around this host child and she cuddled into me and began to sob.

-0-

After a bit of driving, we were dropped off at the restaurant where Ian and I were supposed to wait. We walked with Luna up to the doorway.

Luna stopped. "We're going in there?" I nodded. "But there are too many people. They will ask me why I'm alone. Then the Seekers will come," she whispered.

"But you're not alone." I took her hand.

"What about him?" She pointed at Ian.

"I'm covered." Ian had already inserted his _visions_.

"He's good at acting like a Soul," I explained.

"Me too." She gave a shy smile.

It stopped me short. "Acting? Aren't _you_ a Soul?"

She paused for a second before answering. "Of course I am. It's just that sometimes I have trouble keeping control. I've gotten better, but I'm only nine."

"You mean your host?"

She looked at the ground. "I mean me."

I nodded. A child in a child. I looked at Ian and I knew he thought it too. This situation sounded very familiar. A Soul trying to keep control of her host, a questioning Seeker, the Seeker in chase – this was my story all over again. Only this time the Soul was trying to fine _me_. But Why?

**AN: Are you enjoying the turn of events so far? Please review.**


	54. Chapter 51

**AN: I told you I would update sooner and here it is. I hope you like it. The mistakes are mine and so is the plot. Everything else belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Ch 51**

We waited for the Kyle and Sunny with our food order sitting on the table getting cold. Neither Ian nor I could have a bite while we worried if the other two were going to meet us. Luna's food also went untouched, because she just kept peering around fretting about the possibility of being found.

Kyle and Sunny walked in moments later, glancing around to find us. "Oh there you are," Sunny said in her usual gentle tone. "This food station has an identical establishment a few blocks down. We weren't sure which location you were talking about. We waited, but when I asked one of the waiters if they saw some people matching the both of your description, he so helpfully informed us of this place."

"What's with the extra package?" Kyle questioned referring to Luna.

"She's tagging along the ride for questioning," Ian explained.

"We better keep our eyes opened," I suggested. "She may not be alone."

-0-

We all walked extra carefully to look Soul-like. I could feel the panic welling up in me. If there really was a Seeker out here trying to find me, all I wanted to do was run and hide. Run away from Ian and the others so that I wouldn't lure the Seekers to our home and endanger all that we created to survive. But Ian wouldn't have any of that. He held onto my hand, sharing the strength he had to hold on and keep calm.

Once in the van we had for supply runs and travelling around heavy soul areas, we buckled up and took an alternate route to our hideaway vehicle. We quickly moved the supplies and covered up any evidence of our presence. The day was winding down and Ian sprayed _sleep_ on Luna. She flinched at the surprise of the raspberry-scented fog, but quickly drifted off to sleep.

Luna was brought into the caves around midnight. No one was aware of our entrance beside Jeb and the guards. Ian carried Luna to the hospital to sleep on a cot the rest of the night.

I woke early the next morning with Ian. First we went to inform the kids we were back and then I went through the southern tunnel to the hospital. I noticed Doc sitting there with a curious expression.

"Who's this?"

"Her name is Luna. She's a Soul child."

He nodded his head. "I thought you said a child wouldn't wake up if the Soul was removed."

"That's what I think, but I'm not suggesting removing the soul. She was trying to find me. I was hoping when she wakes she could tell me why."

Luna began to stir at the sound of our voices. Her eyes fluttered then opened. Her body bolted upright. "Where am I?"

"Calm down." I stepped forward. "You're safe. We're underground. No seekers will find you here." She looked at Doc. "This is Doc. He's a very nice Human. He's just like a Healer. This is his hospital area of a large underground cave." I showed her the Soul medicines and examination table. "There are other places here, a kitchen and two gardens – all underground. But you can't go around without me. The humans here don't know about you yet. We'll introduce you later, but first tell me why you were looking for me."

"To keep me safe. She said you would help me."

_Here we go again._ "Who?"

"I'm not sure. I can't remember her name."

"Okay. What did she look like?"

"I don't know. I didn't see her."

The human feeling I recognized as frustration washed over me. "You didn't _see_ her? What made you believe her?"

She sighed and looked at the ground.

I paused as remembered as souls we trust each other. "Okay. How did you recognize me?"

"From a picture she showed me. It was of you and another girl. I see it again in my head sometimes." Fear rushed through my host's body at the idea of a picture of me out in public. "She said you were a soul that worked with the humans and when I explained things, you would understand."

"Explained what?" Doc asked.

She looked at him then at the ground. "That I'm not crazy."

"Crazy?" Something occurred to me. "Does your host talk to you?" I was trying to see if more of her story mimicked mine.

"No, it's not my body," she whispered shaking her head. She was silent again for a long moment.

Doc spoke again. "Luna, how did you come to be on your own? What happened to your parents?"

"They were in an accident. We all were. My father was driving down a highway and suddenly there was this truck driving really fast towards us in a different lane. I never saw anyone drive that fast before."

"Humans," he uttered and I nodded.

"I guessed that too. The Seeker cars were behind it. Then the truck crossed over to our lane and my father turned fast to get out of the way. That's when our car flipped."

"Oh no!" I whispered.

Tears dripped down her face and Doc handed her some white material he called gauze. She used it to wipe at her cheeks. "My parents were hurt. I remember blood everywhere. One Seeker car stopped to help. He said they were beyond repair and took out tanks to . . . you know," she whispered at the end.

"It's okay. I told you Doc is like a Healer." I smiled at him then turned back to her and cued her to continue. "So your parents were put in the tanks . . ."

"Weren't you hurt?" Doc asked.

"I didn't think so, but they rushed me to a hospital anyway. I was put to sleep and when I woke up I saw that my parents were reinserted into available bodies."

"They had available adults?"

"No. They were children—younger than me. How were they supposed to take care of me that way? I didn't understand." She wiped another tear away. "The questions started after that. The Seeker asked me about the humans and I told her what I saw. 'The truck came at us really fast,' I said. She stopped me and asked about other humans, ones that I helped. I didn't have any idea what she was talking about and told her so."

"What?" Doc and I looked at each other confused. "Are you sure your parents weren't human themselves?"

"Yes. I saw the separations take place. The thing is I was no longer sure about what was going on. Even though I told her I lived with my parents trying to have a good soul life she kept insisting I was hiding behind my host's memories, but I was sure those were _my_ memories. I thought they must have done something to me and thought I wouldn't be me anymore."

"What a minute." Jared came out from the shadows hidden in the tunnel. Luna gasped and pulled up her knees to her chest. "If the host's memory is of the child then . . ."

"Luna you were _human_?" I asked looking at her. "They put a soul in there and thought the soul would take control, but didn't."

"Well then, what is she?" Doc quested.

I turned to pick up the instrument he called the optomoscope and flashed the light in her irises. The reflecting of light and the scar on her neck gave no doubt that she was inserted with a soul, but I still couldn't believe it. I wasn't sure _who_ was doing the talking. The idea of a child having a strong enough will to hold onto herself?

"Luna," I gazed into her face. "Are you the soul or the host?"

Her face scrunched up to a child's tantrum. "She said you would understand!"

"Who?" I asked for what felt like the millionth time.

She got very quiet and mouthed, "The soul in my head."

My jaw dropped.

**AN: Please review.**


	55. Chapter 52

**AN: I know I was supposed to update earlier today, but I realized the chapter was saved before I edited it. I had to wait until I got home to add the edited version on ff.**

**Everything belongs to you-know-who.**

_"Who?" I asked for what felt like the millionth time._

_She got very quiet and mouthed, "The soul in my head."_

**Ch 52**

"She knows me? The soul in your head, the one they put in there . . . she actually _knows_ me?" I asked in confusion.

"Of course she does," Jared piped up. "Don't you get it? The soul was helping the humans. How many souls would actually do that?"

"Quite a number," I stated automatically. "The humans yesterday were telling us the Seekers may have found a whole group of human-sympathizers." I thought back to years ago to when I first met Burns and his "gone native" perspective. Sunny was already willing to do anything for Kyle the moment he found her. We had seen a number of Souls over the years that were doing their part to help humans they knew. "I'm certainly not the only expatriate soul out there."

"I don't think that's possible," Doc commented.

"Come on," I said, "Burns Living Flowers has been helping Nate for . . ."

"No," he interrupted. "I mean, I don't think the host girl is talking. How could a human nine-year-old living among souls have a will that strong?"

"Six," she corrected. "This was three years ago. I was six."

"No," Jared deduced. "I think the kid is talking. A soul would never be able to fib like this. The lie is too big."

"But for a _child_ to keep control of the body, to overtake a soul? Even Mel couldn't do that," I reminded them.

"She did when you were overwhelmed," he reminded me and my face warmed at the memory.

"But she's a child."

"She resisted," Jeb said coming too out of the shadows. Luna ducked behind me. My human mothering intuition telling me she was worried how many more people were planning to step out of the shadows. "She was hidin' among them souls, pretendin' to be one of them. I say she musta been real strong. Right Luna?"

She hesitated at first to speak up, but I encouraged her. "I knew if the seekers ever took me away from my mother and father that I might no longer be me. My mother warned me about that. She said she loved me and that I was irreplaceable. I think that's why I wasn't hurt in the accident. I was so little my Mother made sure to put me in a special harness and to place me in it properly. She always said there was only one of me."

-0-

Word spread quickly about Luna, the child who resisted the soul. She claimed she hadn't heard the soul's voice since the first time and once again meal time became the source of entertainment for the humans but this time peppering _her_ with questions.

She was really, what Melanie called, tight-lipped at first—shy to answer questions that seemed so personal about her parents and the life at her home, but she was more forthcoming about the time after the insertion.

"For three years I was looking for you, Wanda. I knew by the picture you would be with the humans, but I needed to find the right ones. I was warned by my parents to not approach humans. Humans were supposed to be dangerous and might take me away from them, but now I was on my own. I figured whatever those Healers did would cause the humans to be fearful of me. I had someone talk to me inside my head — that's craziness. I would be scared of someone who told me that."

"Not here," Born exclaimed beside me. "Here we call it using your imagination. It's fun." All the children nodded.

"Really?"

"Ah huh," he nodded. She smiled.

"So then what did you do?" I prompted.

"Well I also knew I couldn't just ask the souls about you either. I had to figure something out quickly, because there was a Seeker after me. So I decided the only humans that might know you, were humans that could _act like souls_, peaceful ones walking around in groups."

"Luna," Ian began, "could you tell us about the soul in your head?"

"I don't know that much about her. All I know is what I learned from the Seeker's questions. She was helping some Humans get some supplies when she got caught. They did a separation and prepared to send her off planet, but the Healers insisted that her previous host was influencing her, taking control. If she was put into a new host, it would fix the problem. The Seeker was trying to decide if that was true. I could tell I was frustrating her when I couldn't give her the answers she wanted."

"You were too strong," Kyle said in a sinister tone.

"I kept focusing on the loss of my parents. I was too sad for anything. I was hoping the soul they claimed they put in me would feel sad and not want to stay." She took a breath. "Then I felt something. A sadness that didn't come from me, but kind of did." Luna's eyes dropped to the plate in front of her.

"Go on," Melanie encouraged from behind her.

Luna paused and turned around to Mel's voice. "I know you. You're the other one in the picture."

"What picture?" she asked and I remembered the fear of the picture identifying me out there somewhere.

"The one that flashed in my head when the soul spoke to me." I felt a sigh of relief. There was no actual picture, just a memory. "She was sad for you and told me to find Wanda. I thought something might have happened to you."

"What about the Seeker?" Jared asked. "What were her questions like?"

"She asked where more humans were hiding. I told her I didn't know about any humans and I started to cry. She seemed bothered by that then looked at me strangely, like she finally saw me. She asked me about my mother and my life at home living among souls."

"Oh oh," I heard someone utter.

"I was still crying and couldn't speak. I missed my mother so much. Then I heard _her_ voice, the soul. She told me not to say anything. The picture flashed in my head and she told me to find you. 'She'll keep you safe,' I heard. I was confused. It was like someone else was using _my_ voice. It made me stop crying."

"Then what happened?" Sunny asked.

"I wasn't sure what really happened when a soul was put in. All I knew was that I wouldn't be me. So I thought it was finally happening. I was changing. I moved my hands opening and closing them to see if I was still able to." She gave a small smile, "And I could. Then the Seeker asked if I was mal-, mal-, mal—_something_. It had an 'F' in it."

"Malfunctioning," Lacey stated.

"Yeah. I didn't know what that meant, but I told her 'yes' and she sent me to stay overnight at a Comforter's home. That night I ran away and have been on the run ever since."

**AN: Send me reviews.**


	56. Chapter 53

**AN: Hi sorry for not updating. This had been typed for a while, but I thought it was dry and not quite as exciting as a wanted it to be. I waited a really long time for some inspiration, but it never came. So I figured this was better than nothing. You guys tell me.**

**I want to address something one person asked—how do Ian and Wanda have a full human daughter? For one thing what happened with Born would not necessarily happen every time but to be sure, Wanda was taken out before the birth. No soul-no ****antenna** **reaching into the unborn baby. I hope that clears things up.**

**I don't own anything. Let's get back to the story.**

Luna got a chance to take a tour with Jeb later. The kids tagged along making plans to meet after their lessons with Sharon were over. Luna welcomed the company of the children and was generally excited about being able to just play. Caroline was especially glad to add another female to the mix. It seemed that after my experience of motherhood began, three other females became pregnant with boys within a year of each other, Sunny, Sharon and Violetta. It wasn't quite as tragic as they originally thought. With soul medicines, it was pain-free and with the _visions_ they were able to go to any store and get whatever they needed for their baby or babies in Sharon and Doc's case — they had twins.

I accompanied the children in the game room since I gave up long ago on helping the humans here with any manual labor. My part time job in this human community was usually watching and entertaining the kids during playtime. A worthy cause since being around me gave the children experience in behavior around souls. When they are old enough to go on missions topside, they will be prepared to blend.

The children played tag with Born with a Soul standing in as referee. He liked to be sure everything was nice and fair. I sat on the familiar lip by the entrance way to the cave tunnel. The lanterns were hung from the ceiling forming a blue square glow in the center of the room. Most of the children, being used to the darkness, enjoyed the dim illumination that added to the game, but Caroline and Luna weren't comfortable yet and so they held hands and stuck to the brightest area of the room. They were caught most often.

I heard the sound of voices coming up from the long cave tunnel and turned to see Jamie and Madeline coming up the corridor.

"Okay. I helped you get to the game room. You could let go now," he said as she clung to his arm.

"But aren't you going to help us find our way back?"

"Seriously? I have work to do. I'm sure one of the kids could help, or Wanda." He turned to me. "Hey Wanda."

"Hello Jamie, Maddy." She pulled into his side.

Jamie shifted away from her. "I told you — boundaries. Just friends, remember?" She nodded.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

I decided to speak. "The children are having an exciting game of tag. I'm sure they wouldn't mind more players." I looked at the kids. Half of were frozen in their caught state. Caroline looked back and headed toward us.

"No thanks," Maddy answered. "I was just coming to get my sister. It's time for her bath." Caroline came up by my side. "Besides games like this are for kids."

"Do we have to go now? Can't I just finish? And you used to love playing these games with _me_," Caroline whined.

The sisters stared at each other for a moment. "Fine, five minutes, but then it's time for a bath." Caroline hugged Maddy and ran back to her frozen friend.

"Who's the new girl?" Jamie asked.

"Luna. She's that girl that was wondering around searching . . ."

"Oh, I heard some of the others talking about her. Do you really think there is a silent soul in her head?"

"Anything is possible.

/{...}\

It was dinner time again and I gathered my family and headed for the kitchens. I spotted Mel with Jared. They already had a place and Ian led the way to them.

"Which story did you decide to entertain us with tonight?" Mel asked.

I looked over at the young child walking in with her new best friend. Caroline and Luna held hands giggling and whispering to each other.

"You two look like you had fun today," Born commented. "You don't care that you lost?"

"Nope," Caroline said. "You were being fair. Besides, this place is a lot cooler than the jailhouse. Kind of spooky though."

"It's not so bad. I like not having to worry about getting caught. I never knew who to trust. I feel human, but I'm kind of not," Luna vocalized.

"So Luna, about that soul in your head, do you know where she or he might have originated from?"

"Sorry Wanda. I told you, the soul hadn't spoken to me since telling me to find you."

"I know, but I'm not talking about conversation I'm talking about feelings, thoughts, or even memories. Does a particular type of planet feel familiar? Seeweeds? Dragons? Bats? Maybe Bears?"

"No. Nothing. It's like she's gone out of my head. All I know is from being me. I don't even have a memory of what that Seeker said the soul did. If I hadn't heard her voice that day, I would never believe I really had a soul in my head."

"That's too bad," Jeb uttered carrying his meal to a nearby makeshift table. "Those other planets seem so fascinatin'. Seems like a blessin' to have experienced it."

Luna shrugged and headed toward the line for the food.

Jamie walked into view. "Did I miss any good food?"

Luna stopped and turned around to the voice. Her eyes widened and her chin dropped. "Jamie," she whispered.

He blinked several times at the young girl. "Do I know you?"

She ran into him securing her arms around his waist.

All the people stared and Luna let go of him as if she held onto something hot. "That wasn't me!" She stared at her hands, opening and closing them to test her control. She panted hard. "_She_ did it."

Jamie looked down at the child and then at his two sisters. "What's going on?"

"She knows Jamie too?" Mel questioned.

"Well this is turning out to be a fine mystery," Jeb laughed.

"Jamie how many souls have you met?" I asked.

"I was up there for years playing a Seeker. Maybe hundreds."

"Yeah, but she didn't call you Seeker James. How many knew you as Jamie?"

He paused for a second. "You and Sunny, and there's Burns and two others, Sunset and Violet that I know helped other cells. But, those two are fine as far as I know. The only ones unaccounted for were the ones that have been down here and left."

The two females whispered, "Arena."

"She's the only one we didn't send off-planet ourselves," Mel claimed.

Jamie turned around toward the child. He crouched down to her eye level. "Arena, are you in there?"

The girl looked down and then gave a small gasp. She looked at Jamie. "She said, 'Yes.'"

Jamie suddenly lifted the girl into his arms and spun her around. "I thought you were gone!" He kept kissing her cheek. Luna looked frightened. The men in the room grabbed him to stop the spinning.

"Put Luna down."

I pulled her away. "Are you okay?" She nodded, rubbing off her cheek.

Mel went to Jamie. "She's in a _nine_-year-old Jamie. You can't do that."

**Luna's POV**

_I can't believe Jamie is here. I thought he was still in the city. How could he be down in the cave again? Ask him. Go on ask him._

I froze as I heard her voice again. I opened my mouth to speak. "She's talking to me."

**AN: So what do you guys think? R&R**

**As always, it is,**

**great2read**


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